


That's Debatable

by StayInMyLane



Series: One Hour Oneshots [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Crack, Happy Ending, M/M, No Angst, Not So Secret Mutual Pining, Opposites Attract, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rivalry, beomgyu is a flirt, debate can go to hell, fake hate, i HATE debate class, i use songs as chapter titles, stray kids cameos - Freeform, totally self indulgent, was supposed to be a oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:49:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25124200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StayInMyLane/pseuds/StayInMyLane
Summary: Have you ever hated someone so much for no reason at all?It's not that they did anything specifically wrong, just...their mere existence pisses you off to the point you want to run them over with a car while blasting stray kids TA at max volume…Then maybe reverse a few times and do it all over again. Just in case there was the slight 1% chance you might have swerved at the last second from having a conscience and missed by a fraction of a millimeter.All they have to do is breathe, and immediately you are ready to end their existence.Not that Kang Taehyun feels that way towards anyone, no one at all.And certainly not towards a boy named Choi Beomgyu.Nope.[Complete]
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Series: One Hour Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859602
Comments: 33
Kudos: 264





	1. Lucky Strike

_Have you ever hated someone so much for no reason at all?_

_It's not that they did anything specifically wrong, just...their mere existence pisses you off to the point you want to run them over with a car while blasting stray kids TA at max volume…_

_Then maybe reverse a few times and do it all over again. Just in case there was the slight 1% chance you might have swerved at the last second from having a conscience and missed by a fraction of a millimeter._

_All they have to do is breathe, and immediately you are ready to end their existence._

_Not that Kang Taehyun feels that way towards anyone, no one at all._

_And certainly not towards a boy named Choi Beomgyu._

_Nope._

"Who does he think he is?" Taehyun muttered quietly under his breath. 

His best friend hueningkai, or hyuka for short, looked over at him in question. Then he immediately glanced over at the bane of taehyuns existence. 

"Taehyun-ah, he's literally just talking with his friends while waiting in line," hyuka chuckled. 

They were currently both waiting in the back of the line for some coffee before their first class of the day. Taehyun really needed his caramel macchiato fix since today was TUESDAY. 

You see, taehyun’s schedule of classes is spread out randomly through the week. He couldn't help it since he's studying as an English major. It's his dream to be a writer, but he isn't sure which kind. He's smart enough to be any type of writer he wants, whether that is fiction or nonfiction. 

So here's how it goes. Taehyun has his general courses three days a week, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They are the typical required ones like math, humanities, history, a science of his choosing (he opted for biology), and economics. Then on every Tuesday and Thursday he takes his major-related courses. So that includes english, literature, computer, and worst of all...debate class. 

Now, taehyun actually likes debate. He’s intelligent, and enjoys a good, heated, and logical discussion about random topics the professor assigns them for each class. He gets to learn more about his fellow university classmates, and observing people is a favorite pastime of his. He likes debate more than an average student would, and was excited to sign up for this class at the start of his semester. 

But that was before he met _him_.

Taehyun glared daggers at the back of choi beomgyu’s black haired head as they inched closer to the front of the register, ignoring the fact that his hair was slightly messy in a sexy way from lack of brushing it. Knowing beomgyu, he probably got up 10 minutes before he had to leave for class, not bothering to brush his hair or find clothes he didnt already wear earlier that week. Taehyun was the epitome of tidiness, and beomgyu was a walking monstrosity in his carefully clean-crafted world. 

After the first week of debate class, taehyun dreaded going to it more and more. All because of beomgyu. Now it was past mid-terms, and the second half of the semester was in full swing.

Taehyun had the unfortunate luck to be put on opposite teams with beomgyu their first week, and it turned out to be a god awful nightmare. The boy was just so... _annoying!_

Everything taehyun said, beomgyu would argue back with the most ridiculous facts and say the stupidest things. Nothing made sense with him! He was never logical with his thinking, but somehow he always made a point that left taehyun speechless or scrambling to counter attack in the debate. His mind flipped from one outrageous idea and argument to the next, leaving taehyun mentally exhausted by the end of the class. 

Now, normally taehyun would be okay with someone like this. Taehyun has always been calm, composed, rarely rattled by another’s antics. He would normally be just simply irritated with someone like beomgyu, but nothing more. Taehyun actually likes challenges, he likes to people watch. He likes to get inside someone else’s head, figure them out, and adjust his attitude and thoughts about them accordingly, only to crush them later. Taehyun was a thinker, always analyzing other people, and trying to understand them. He takes pride in that.

But with beomgyu, its different. Taehyun boils in frustration he has never felt towards someone before. Because no matter how hard he tries, he cant wrap his mind around beomgyu’s personality. The kid is literally mental and should be put in a straight jacket. 

From what taehyun has gathered since the start of the semester, beomgyu is not normal, and here is how he has come to this deduction: 

Beomgyu is super social, being best friends with soobin and yeonjun who were third year university students and extremely popular. On top of that, he’s athletic and pretty, a deathly combo, but nothing taehyun hasnt seen before (just take a look at yeonjun and hyuka for example). He’s loud and boisterous on some days, but quiet and reserved on other days. Everyone fawns over his attention, which he freely gives. He likes to laugh and jump around all hyper, but also can sit still and work hard on something if he’s invested enough in it or serious. Beomgyu loves to play his guitar, and sometimes he will sit out in the courtyard and play random songs in between breaks, always gathering a small crowd around him. He arrives late to class on some days, and gets there super early on other days. He’s a picky eater, often whining about how much he hates seafood, but will also wordlessly eat the fish cakes in the tteukbokki someone went out of their way to bring to him. If you look at his grades, he would be considered stupid in the class, and he doesnt seem to care about just barely passing with a C. he sometimes gets the lowest score on his exams, but then blows everyone out of the water for a mid-term or pop quiz, tying first with taehyun. Sometimes he falls asleep in the back of the lecture room, not even bothering to pretend to pay attention to the professor, but miraculously answers the questions that were purposely aimed at him with scary accurate precision. Beomgyu likes to babble about the simplest things of his days, always wrapped up in himself and barely listening to what his other friends are saying, but then easily recites something his two friends said to him weeks before when he was supposedly not paying attention.

So what taehyun is trying to say here, is that beomgyu is...unpredictable. He’s _random._ He marches to the beat of his own drum, and it irritates taehyun to no end. Taehyun gnashed his teeth together just thinking about it.

He was seething. He hates everything about beomgyu, only for the mere fact that taehyun never knows what this ridiculously good looking boy is going to do or say next. Taehyun is always on his toes around beomgyu. 

Beomgyu is constantly contradicting himself on a daily basis. Every time taehyun thinks he’s got him figured out, beomgyu goes and does the exact opposite. At first taehyun thought this was unintentional, something beomgyu cant help but do, and maybe he cant most days. 

But then sometimes... _sometimes_ taehyun will see the glint of mischief in his eyes, the slight curve of a smirk on his lips. 

And that was when taehyun figured out beomgyu is annoying him on purpose. Which only made taehyun lose his temper, hating this enigma with every fiber of his being. Taehyun hates not having the upper hand. You can call it having a superiority complex, but really that wasnt it. Taehyun likes knowing things, and he’s frustrated that no matter how much he observes beomgyu, he finds something new about him every single time. 

It all started with their first week of the semester. It was the first class of debate, and taehyun was put on the opposite team of beomgyu. Oh, how taehyun was naive then. He had no idea that in just 20 minutes, he would find someone to ruin his most favored class for the entire semester. 

At the start of the class, he swung his gaze around at all of the new and somewhat familiar faces he’s seen on campus. He took note of choi yeonjun and choi soobin who were sitting next to each other in their own little world, oblivious to the dreamy sighs and looks of admiration from the other students around them. Taehyun rolled his eyes at that. Soobin and yeonjun were one of the most popular couples on campus, but they were also the most friendly people you will ever get to know. They have a weird obsession for food, but it was cute how they share that obsession with each other. 

His eyes glazed over a few other faces he could care less about, until they flicked over at the loud laugh coming from near soobin and yeonjun. And that’s when taehyun first laid eyes on choi beomgyu. 

He had dark black hair that fell into his eyes, earrings that decorated both ears, flawless skin, and full lips that were raised up into a bright smile. Now, taehyun was taller than most boys, but he could tell that beomgyu was maybe slightly taller than him. However, beomgyu had nothing on yeonjun, hyuka, or soobin’s height. Currently, he hopped up onto his desk, placing his feet on the back of soobin’s chair in front of him. His clothes just consisted of a white tshirt and a comfortable looking sweater that was way too big for him (taehyun would later find out he stole the cardigan from soobin), and skinny jeans with black converse. He was gorgeous, sexy, and cute all at the same time, taehyun would admit it. But looks didnt really matter to taehyun, so he looked away from beomgyu with a bored face. It was all about the personality for him, and nobody to this day has caught taehyun’s interest. Taehyun had a complicated mind, and so far no one has ever been able to keep up with his fast thinking. His high intelligence and sarcastic bluntness also seemed to bother a lot of people in high school, so that could be counted as a reason for taehyun not putting much effort in to make friends with other people nowadays. Hyuka was the only one who has ever gotten close to him since their first year of university last year, and taehyun considers himself lucky to have a friend like hueningkai. 

So, knowing all this about taehyun, you can imagine why in that moment of first laying eyes on beomgyu, taehyun immediately recognized him as hyper with nothing but fluff for brains. 

That was taehyun’s first mistake. 

The class that day went down hill pretty fast. After their first heated debate of the semester, the professor, Lee Minho, thought it would be funny and amusing to stick beomgyu and taehyun on opposing teams each and every single class from there on out. Taehyun even went as far as talking to the professor, asking for a change in teams for once, but the devil said he wasn’t going to because taehyun and beomgyu were too entertaining for him. He also pitted soobin and yeonjun against each other, which only further caused a ruckus since they were both highly competitive, even if they loved each other unconditionally. 

And so, after 2k words of describing the long backstory (but not really) of why taehyun wants to harm beomgyu in ways that he knows are not legal (there really wasn't a legit reason why), we are back to the beginning, with taehyun glaring daggers at the back of choi beomgyu’s head as he innocently orders his daily iced americano, with extra ice because beomgyu likes his coffee to be slightly watery. Dont ask taehyun how he knows this, he is an observer afterall. 

“It doesnt matter what he’s doing, i know what he’s _really_ like,” taehyun hissed between his teeth to hyuka. 

“A perfectly normal, albeit dramatic, boy that just so happens to be in a few of your classes?” hyuka asked, schooching forward as the line moved again. Beomgyu and his friends were now hanging out at the other side of the counter, waiting for their drinks to be made. 

“No,” taehyun said with a deadpan expression. “He’s not normal.”

Hyuka rolled his eyes, hearing this same argument many times before. 

“Taehyun, i honestly dont know why you insist that he’s some super deceptive person who likes to play with people for fun,” hyuka said, shaking his head. “Are you really sure that he’s messing with you? You constantly rant about how he is actually a really smart person and flunks his grades on purpose, that he says outrageous things just to get you mad, and you think he has it secretly out for you when he’s just being nice!” 

Now, hyuka is not as dumb as we all think. In fact, he knows taehyun is absolutely right about beomgyu. That kid is nice, but also totally messing with taehyun on purpose and pushing his buttons. We all know why, but taehyun doesnt, so hyuka thinks its way fun to contradict what taehyun says about beomgyu. Soobin and yeonjun think so too (hyuka has a few classes with them since they are all liberal arts majors).

Taehyun looked at hyuka with betrayal, the slightly younger boy trying really hard to keep from smiling at his face. He’s got to hand it to beomgyu. Seeing taehyun like this is really cute. Ever since hyuka became friends with taehyun, he’s rarely seen him get so riled up over anything. Taehyun has never showed so much interest in someone like he does with beomgyu, and hyuka really wants to see where this goes. 

“Im just saying hyunnie, the kid is alright. I mean sure, he sometimes skips class and is super loud, but so is everyone else here on campus. That’s hardly a crime,” hyuka continued to rile taehyun up. Hyuka was also not wrong. Beomgyu is nice, and sociable, and super fun and energetic to be around. The perfect opposite of taehyun (not that he’s saying taehyun isnt fun, but you get the point). They both shuffled over to get their drinks, taehyun avoiding beomgyu like the plague as the older boy walked past with his drink and friends in tow. 

He winked at taehyun, earning him a deep set scowl which just made him laugh out loud again. “See you in class later, taehyunnie!” he called over, smirking when taehyun just gave him a blank stare and then looked away, totally ignoring him. 

Once beomgyu was gone, taehyun muttered to hyuka under his breath. “See, didnt i tell you he was a jerk?” 

Hueningkai just snorted, grabbing their drinks once their names were called. “Ok, taehyunnie, whatever you say to make yourself feel better. But he’s a hot as hell jerk, right?”

Taehyun set his lips into a thin line, neither denying it nor confirming it. And if his heart picked up the pace a little bit at the mention of viewing beomgyu as anything other than a potato, then that was nobody’s business. Not even hyuka’s. 

***

_Have you ever glanced at someone for the first time and just immediately knew you wanted to be closer to them? Your eyes meet theirs, and right away you think “wow, he’s the one.”_

_Its not that they did anything particularly special, just...their mere existence caught your attention so strongly to the point you want to get to know everything about them. Maybe start off as friends and see where things go. All they have to do is breathe, and immediately you are ready to risk it all._

_Choi Beomgyu has only ever felt that way towards one particular person._

_And this boy went completely by the name of Kang Taehyun._

_Yep._

******  
**

Beomgyu skipped happily to his class later that day, soobin and yeonjun trailing behind. He was a bit hyper from his iced americano this morning, but that was only part of the reason. 

“You know, you arent being subtle at all,” yeonjun chuckled to his friend. 

“Are you really this happy to see taehyun? Dont try to deny it, you totally are whipped for that kid,” soobin added in. 

Beomgyu turned around, walking backwards and grinning at the both of them. “I dont know what you are talking about~” he laughed. 

Yeonjun ignored his obvious lie. “What even is it about him you like so much? He seems to hate you, in case you havent noticed.” 

Beomgyu just waved the comment away with his hand. “He’s just playing hard to get. I can totally feel the attraction between us,” he sighed dreamily. 

“I once heard him tell hyuka that he wanted to bury beomgyu under the tree in the side courtyard because he thought the tree might need some more fertilizer, and it’s best to go _all natural_...if you know what i mean,” soobin whispered to yeonjun. 

“He was just joking,” beomgyu pouted. 

“I could have swore i heard him growl at beomgyu under his breath when he passed by last week,” yeonjun fake whispered back.

“He was clearing his throat,” beomgyu insisted. 

Yeonjun leaned into soobin, all of his strength leaving him at beomgyu’s obvious refusal to accept that maybe the object of his affection wont ever feel the same way towards him. 

Beomgyu spun back around, and entered the only class he ever bothers to show up for one hundred percent of the time. It wasnt that he liked debate, but he didnt hate it either. This was just a stupid required course anyways, an easy A (if he tried) and the only class he shared with the love of his life. 

Okay, now i know what you are thinking. Calling someone the love of your life is a bit dramatic, and beomgyu agrees. But there was just _something_ about taehyun that grabbed his attention. He walked into this room that first day a few months ago, and he just knew. 

Beomgyu was messing around with yeonjun and soobin that first day, making fun of them for having to take a debate class with second years at the university. He also walked around and talked to a few other people he recognized, getting excited about the first day back. It wasn’t until he hopped up on a desk and felt like someone was staring at him that he finally glanced up and across the room. 

Then he held his breath, feeling his heart start racing. 

The red haired boy was intriguing, for lack of a better word in that moment. His face was beautiful, in a very handsome sort of way. He had large features that made him stand out among the crowd. His hair was dyed red, which completely suited him. He was wearing a crisp white polo shirt, collar tucked neatly into place, creased white pants, and a pair of white converse on. He was the book definition of geek, but for some reason he was far from it. Everyone could tell he was gorgeous, and beomgyu doubts anyone ever made fun of him for his choice in clothes. To make matters worse, he was clearly athletic, if his honey golden skin and obvious toned muscles was any indication. An athletic super sexy geek, which made a very jaw dropping and deathly combo if beomgyu had ever seen one. On top of that, he’s edgy, since he so shamelessly dyed his hair such a bold color right before school starting (he still had nothing on yeonjun’s lemon yellow hair, and soobin’s dull purple, but that was a close third). 

But what stood out to beomgyu the most was his intense stare, like he could see everything. Beomgyu side-eyed him while he kicked the back of soobin’s chair, not wanting the other boy to catch him staring back, and clearly basking in the attention he was receiving from Red over there. But then...Red decided to look away, an obvious bored look settling in his features. Beomgyu resisted the urge to pout. He was used to people checking him out (uhm hello? Have you seen him?), and this was a first that someone seemed to not care or at least be a little bit interested. 

Beomgyu isnt arrogant enough to think that he deserves all the attention on him like some superstar of the school, but he _does_ appreciate a little flattery as a confidence boost just like the next person. 

So, doing what anyone else would do when they meet a new person of interest, beomgyu decided to pay attention to everything and anything about them. Come on, we all do it. Especially when you have a scrumptious looking geek sitting all pristine and pure in his seat, just begging to be flirted with. 

For the first ten minutes, beomgyu was sitting there, imagining what it would be like to run his hands through all of that red hair, or maybe flick the top button open of his cute little polo shirt or-

“Ok class, i dont really feel like doing those stupid ice breakers, so if you want to get to know each other more do it on your own time,” their Professor, Lee Minho, said in a nonchalant voice. The class chuckled at that, and a few people breathed out a sigh of relief, including Red (not that beomgyu was watching or anything). “This is debate. You all have been there done that in high school, so i doubt i need to explain how this works in super detail. Each class session we will do mini debates on random topics that i feel are extremely important and extremely dire for the proper education of the next generation of this country. I will divide the class up into two teams most days, some days we will do smaller groups, i dont really know, and i will grade you according to how well i think you are doing.” a few people all groaned, earning a glare from the professor. “Dont give me that. I know its completely subjective of me, and i can do what i want. You should have read the course description or those websites where they rate your professors before signing up.”

A few people looked at him shocked that a professor would bring up those not-so-secret websites where we all secretly check out to see if the teacher is an asshole or an easy A+. 

Professor Lee rolled his eyes at the deer-in-the-headlights look he was receiving. “What? Most of us know about it, and i get bored and need reading material while on the toilet. Just be careful with some of those reviews, because let me just say, a good friend of mine is good at coming up with the most wonderful reviews to post under my section, so half of those reviews are probably all his.” a couple other kids snickered, including yeonjun, soobin, and even Red. beomgyu just mentally shrugged. He took this class so he could be with his friends and not sit in the corner like a loser. 

Then Professor Lee squinted at the class, passing his eyes over each one of them suspiciously. “Plus, i see the crap some of my past students posted which are totally fake. If anyone sees Timmy, just tell him that my coffee stain on his 12 page research paper was totally done on purpose.” then he turned around to the dry erase board to write down the topic that they would discuss today as a practice round. 

Beomgyu could have swore he heard their professor curse under his breath quietly at the front of the room, but he couldnt prove it. 

_“Fuckin timmy.”_

Red then snorted, hiding his smirk behind his hand. He was in the front row, so beomgyu was assuming it was highly likely that his professor this semester was slightly...different than the other professors on campus. 

Professor Lee finished writing and then smacked the board with his marker. “First debate is a practice round. Topic for the day: Violent Video Games Should Be Banned. I want the class to split into two, go!” he said, clapping his hands softly and sitting back in his comfy chair. He watched the class slowly spring into action, shuffling desks and scooching chairs. Beomgyu was slightly upset that he couldnt be on Red’s team, but at least he’s got a solid excuse to stare at him now from across the room. All in all there were about 11 kids in the class, which made one team have one more than the other. 

“Who is going to be For and who is going to be Against this topic?” the professor asked, not caring either way. This was all practice. The real debates he would choose himself. 

“We will be For the banning of violent video games,” yeonjun raised his hand, deciding for the team. He quickly looked around to see if anyone objected. Soobin frowned at his boyfriend. Beomgyu cant blame him, he and soobin were avid gamers. 

“Oh hell no, im totally against this,” soobin grumbled out loud, and then picked up his desk and awkwardly walk-slash-shuffled to the other side with lots of squeaks and skrrts, plopping himself down right next to Beomgyu. 

“Aw come on love, dont be like that,” yeonjun called over, giving him his best kicked puppy dog look. Soobin glared at him, flicking him off but holding up his other hand so that the professor couldnt see. Well, obviously minho knows what he was doing. Beomgyu glanced at their professor, noting the amusement in his eyes at their slight disruption rather than annoyance. Beomgyu thinks hes going to like this professor and will totally give him 5 stars on the websites. 

“Okayyyy, well then the other team is Against banning video games. Im ready when you are,” minho said, sitting back and watching how this plays out. Beomgyu gets the sneaking suspicion that this professor was way more clever than he let on. Why else would he throw a ton of college students at each other with no rules, no boundaries, and letting them decide completely for themselves how things are going to get done? Its the perfect chance to observe and see what each person is like without a facade of trying to get in the teacher’s good graces. 

Soobin was the first to start, glaring at yeonjun and speaking his opinion. “I think we should be against it. Despite what people believe, video games help increase our memory and problem solving techniques and can also improve our mood and social skills.”

“But!” yeonjun jumped in. “its bad for your health and eyesight, leading to obesity and repetitive motion injuries-” he counter argued. 

Beomgyu wanted to sigh. He really doesnt care much about debate. In his opinion, its just an excuse to argue with other people about mundane topics. 

You see, beomgyu gets so bored, so so very easily. Not much catches his interest, and he often has a bad habit of flitting from one thing to the next without finishing a task. Sometimes he stays up really late watching shows or playing music, so he decides to skip class. Sometimes he doesnt feel like studying for an exam because he got carried away with his video games (oops, he guesses that’s a good reason for the other team to ban it) so he just flunks the exam without trying. And if he doesnt get his caffeine fix in the morning, he’s prone to falling asleep at the desk in the back of the room. He loves all kinds of sports, but doesnt really have a huge passion for it, so he has jumped from one thing to the next over the years. He also likes to draw and get his hands messy with paints, charcoal, or oil pastels, but could never sit still long enough to really pursue it as a career. 

But with music...music was different. Beomgyu can sit there for hours, either strumming on his guitar, playing his piano, or messing around on his laptop and never get bored. His mind was always at work, and constantly filled with melodies throughout the day. 

Anddddd…..there goes beomgyu’s attention span again. He’s already clocked out of the debate, barely paying attention and contributing absolutely nothing to it (not that soobin or his other teammates minded. They were in a heated discussion all of their own). He supposes he should at least try so that he doesnt get low marks or scolded by the professor, but nothing could really motivate him to bother coming up with a rational excuse as to why violent video games are essential to the future of humankind. 

Nothing motivated him, until Red decided to speak up. And oh, what a beautiful voice he had. He talked intelligently but not arrogant, and with a no-nonsense attitude. Plus he was blunt and straight to the point. Beomgyu listened to him pass over a few counter arguments with yeonjun and the others for a few minutes, and it was...refreshing. He didnt use big and fancy words to try and assert his dominance like other geeks always do. And he didnt use sugar coated words to try and coax the other people over to his side by persuasion. No, Red over there was vicious, out for blood, and could chew you up and spit you out with his cold hard facts. 

Beomgyu sat up straighter, observing him more closely. Red there didnt even break a sweat, he didnt blink with irritation or get emotional like the other kids debating. 

A slow smirk started to curl up at the corners of beomgyu’s lips.

Just what would it take to make this boy snap under the pressure? What makes him tick? Beomgyu wants to know. 

Finally, something interesting has come along for beomgyu, and its in the form of a sexy nerd. 

“I believe it could be a bad influence on children. It could encourage violent and aggressive tendencies, that later might lead to unfortunate consequences," taehyun said.

He’s got a point, beomgyu has to admit. But he thinks this boring debate has gone on long enough. So, doing what he does best (which is pretty much turning the room upside down by blabbing out nonsense that oddly makes sense), he finally spoke his first counter argument with Red from across the room. 

“Ok, but hear me out,” he began, gaining everyone’s attention. Red looked right at him, causing beomgyu to shiver with excitement at the intense stare. He was watching and paying attention to beomgyu, waiting patiently for a moment to pounce and refute whatever beomgyu was going to argue next, and it was both nerve-wracking and thrilling at the same time. “What if we end up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and the kids these days dont have the necessary skills to survive? Are you going to personally take responsibility for the death of all those people? Hmm?” beomgyu argued. 

The class was silent for a shocking second, and then yeonjun snorted, while a few others snickered. His teammates either looked at beomgyu like he was insane or nodded in agreement (soobin). 

Beomgyu heard someone whisper next to Red, “Kang Taehyun, say something back! He just counter-argued your point.” so his name was taehyun? Beomgyu was giddy. How cute! The meaning of his name fit him perfectly. 

Taehyun blinked at beomgyu for a few seconds, his calm exterior still in place, but something shifting in his eyes. 

“That doesn’t even make sense-” taehyun began to say. 

“Actually, it does,” soobin argued back. 

“No it doesnt, shut the hell up soobin,” yeonjun jumped in. 

“Ok, so what im hearing is that none of you care for the well-being of our world and would rather let the population slowly dwindle by getting eaten by zombies all because you believe the concept of violent video games would bring about anger issues that was probably already there to begin with, let’s be honest here. Is that it?” beomgyu argued further, trying not to snicker at the look of disbelief on taehyun’s face. 

“You do realize that a zombie apocalypse isnt likely to happen?” taehyun asked, playing along with beomgyu and maturely arguing against beomgyu’s rather idiotic point. 

Beomgyu squinted his eyes, tapping his desk with his pen. “But can you _prove_ that?” he asked. 

Taehyun scrunched his eyebrows slightly, a small tell that he was getting a little baffled. “Well, no, but the possibility of a zombie apocalypse happening within the next 100 years is about 0.01%, so our decision today on the banning of violent video games would not be associated with the decision of the future and how the people view the importance of violent video games.” 

Beomgyu examined his nails carelessly, nodding along to taehyun’s rambling of facts that are probably true, but he couldnt give a shit about. “But what if the decision we make today could greatly affect the outcome of tomorrow? We gotta think ahead about these things and plan accordingly.”

“I dont see how banning something as simple as video games could have that great of an impact on the future of tomorrow-”

“Tell me taehyun, do you own a time machine?” beomgyu interrupted him, clicking his pen a few times. Beomgyu slipped in calling him his name. Whoops. 

Taehyun looked at beomgyu with confusion. “Obviously not, i dont see how that is relevant-”

“Oh its completely relevant. So you mean to tell me that you think such a small act of banning violent video games could have no impact on our future? And when it _does_ have a large impact on the future of mankind and the zombies that will ultimately take us over, are you going to have a time machine to jump into so that you can go back to this exact moment right here, right now, and smack yourself upside the head for not thinking clearly and supporting the small act of banning violent video games?”

Taehyun brought his hand up to his neck, scratching it idly while he sat there and thought about it. You wouldnt be able to tell by his face, but his eyes showed just how livid he was in having to counter argue this ridiculous point beomgyu brought up. Beomgyu is rather proud of himself this time around, giving himself a mental pat on the back. Nobody else had any idea what was going on anymore, totally lost in the argument now. 

Taehyun was at a loss for words, causing beomgyu to land the final blow. 

“I didnt think so. Then i rest my case.”

Professor Lee kicked down his feet from his desk and clapped his hands. “Okay, i think that ends today’s debate. I will let you guys decide who you think won. Our class time is pretty much over, so bye.” 

Everyone gathered their things and began to put the classroom back in order. Beomgyu glanced at taehyun under his lashes, curious on what he was going to do next. Taehyun just sat there, zoned out for a minute and unmoving. Then he seemed to snap back to reality and hastily gather his things with abrupt movements. 

He wordlessly packed his bag, and then left without another glance. 

Beomgyu watched him retreat, shamelessly checking him out from the back, and smiling like a lovesick (well maybe not that quite yet) idiot. 

Till the next time, Kang Taehyun. 

Beomgyu slammed open the door, skipping inside and passing by the others, stopping at what has come to be taehyun’s unspoken desk. It was his daily routine to bother (spend time with) taehyun, and he looks forward to it every single tuesday and thursday. 

If beomgyu didnt realize it when he first met taehyun, he definitely knows it now. He was totally head over heels for this godly geek. Its been months now since their first argument, and taehyun never failed to entertain him after that. They were always being put up against each other by Professor Lee and beomgyu could just kiss their teacher for it. Every class spent arguing with taehyun has been fun and exciting. Taehyun is clever and witty, and their small rivalry has attracted the attention of everyone in the english department. 

Beomgyu crouched in front of taehyun’s desk so that he was eye level with the red haired boy (he still dyes it that color), and rested his head on his arms, smiling at him. Taehyun purposely ignored him, flipping through a book about poetry. Beomgyu thinks its endearing that taehyun takes great joy in even the simplest of books.

“May i help you?” taehyun asked without looking up. Beomgyu doubts he was reading anymore now that he has an audience in front of him, but it was cute watching him try. 

“No, i just like looking at your face.”

“Well i dont like looking at yours, so go away.” ouch, beomgyu has to admit that kind of hurts. But he wasnt a quitter! 

“Reallyyyy? Do you reallyyyyy mean that? Am i really that ugly to you? Would it be better if i put a paper bag on my head?” beomgyu said with fake sadness. 

Ok, taehyun wasnt a total asshole. He felt kind of bad for lying and saying that. He finally looked up from his book, and ignored the heavy pounding his chest and the slight red he knows is creeping at the top of his ears. 

He schooled his facial features into one of indifference, and stared back at beomgyu. Beomgyu was by no means ugly. He was far from it. Like he noticed earlier at the coffee shop, his dark hair was messy in a sexy sort of way, which just made taehyun desperately fight the urge to run his fingers through it and grip it tight. He was wearing silver hoops in all of his piercings (taehyun has a thing for piercings, even getting his own ears pierced because he thought it looked cool), and his pretty eyes blinked up at taehyun. But it was his lips that caught taehyun’s attention. They were full, and right there in front of him, and so so very kissable. Beomgyu leaned in close to taehyun’s face, still waiting for any answer that taehyun refuses to give. Taehyun’s eyes were still on beomgyu’s lips to the point of being totally obvious, but in that moment taehyun’s mind went blank. That’s just another reason why he ‘hates’ beomgyu. He seems to lose track of what he was thinking every time beomgyu is near. To make matters worse, beomgyu has a strange habit of fidgeting and fussing over the people around him, so more than once taehyun was subjected to beomgyu’s closeness. 

Like right now. Beomgyu’s eyes dropped to taehyun’s hands, one holding the place in his book, and the other holding a pencil he was using to write notes of his thoughts in the margins. Taehyun almost breathed a sigh of relief when beomgyu’s eyes were no longer on him, but then he tensed back up when beomgyu reached forward and started playing with taehyun’s fingers that were holding the pencil.

Well...now what was taehyun supposed to do? Push him away? 

Taehyun gulped, watching beomgyu set the pencil down and start playing with his thumb and pointer finger which were currently still in the position of holding a now nonexistent pencil. His touch burned, and the small but innocent action made taehyun’s skin flush even more under his collar. Taehyun might not initiate skinship very often, but that doesnt mean he’s repulsed by it like most people think. In fact, he likes it when people touch his hair, and he loves holding hands. 

If taehyun didnt know better, he would think beomgyu knows this small but secretive detail about himself. 

“Aww i knew it, taehyunnie. I guess im just not your type. Is it my hair? Maybe i can dye it a different color or-”

“No!” taehyun said slightly too abruptly, but not loud enough to draw attention to them from the other classmates. 

Beomgyu raised a brow in curiosity, pulling his hand away from taehyun’s. Taehyun wanted to pull beomgyu’s hand back towards him, but remembered he hates this annoying boy in front of him and held himself back. 

The corners of beomgyu’s mouth started to upturn in the beginnings of a devilish smirk.

Shit.

Taehyun revealed too much. Beomgyu looked hot as fuck in his natural black hair, and he knows it. He _knows_ he looks good, and is just trying to spur taehyun on. Its a trap. 

And taehyun fell right into it. Again. 

Taehyun curled his fingers into a fist, but whether it was to prevent beomgyu from touching him again at his weakest point, or to punch him, he doesnt know. Taehyun glared at beomgyu, holding eye contact with the other boy for several agonizing moments. Beomgyu was looking at him with such a heated gaze, it left butterflies in taehyun’s stomach. Nobody has ever looked at him like that. 

Professor Lee then walked in, causing everyone to head to their respected seats. Beomgyu blinked, leaning closer to taehyun just to mess with him and then backing away, making taehyun miss his presence. 

“Good luck in the debate today, taehyunnie,” beomgyu smiled cheerfully at him, hopping back to his seat. 

Taehyun gritted his teeth, prepared to win this debate against beomgyu today. The score was currently 12 to 10, but who was keeping count? (taehyun was) 

Professor Lee still refuses to switch the teams ever since that first day. So taehyun and beomgyu (and soobin and yeonjun) are constantly forced to go against each other for each debate. Taehyun has tried so hard to get minho to switch the teams, but he downright refuses, and its starting to get annoying. 

Taehyun glared at beomgyu, and the monster had the audacity to wave back cutely with a pretty smile, perfect white teeth and all. 

Fucking ridiculous. 

Professor Lee went to the board and started writing:

Easter Bunny vs Santa Claus:

Seriously? Taehyun could swear the topics were getting more ridiculous as the weeks went by.

“Obviously santa. Have you seen the easter bunny? The dude looks like he’s seen some sketchy shit and will fucking murder you,” beomgyu argued. 

“Language, mister choi,” professor lee cut in. 

“And those big ole eyes,” beomgyu shivered. “They stare right into the depths of your soul.”

“Bold of you to assume you have a soul,” taehyun countered. 

“Now hold on a damn minute-” 

“Mr. choi. Language.” 

“At least the easter bunny doesnt judge people based on their life choices. Santa always has a list, and will mercilessly cross you off if you make one small mistake. What ever happened to forgiving people?” taehyun countered him. 

“Maybe there’s a good reason i would be on the naughty list,” beomgyu wiggled his eyebrows suggestively to taehyun. “Santa is right to keep one.” 

Taehyun just stared at him with a straight face, making a few other students crack up.

“I think its gross that the easter bunny shits out eggs,” soobin said. 

Minho just rolled his eyes, giving up on the language thing. Honestly, jisung was way worse back when they were in college. 

“At least he doesnt eat all of your milk and cookies,” yeonjun said back. He was pouting, oddly upset over the fictional fact that santa would take his food. He was very possessive of his food. 

On and on this went for the next 30 minutes, until finally their time was over with and taehyun viewed the results as a draw. This debate topic wasn’t worth his time, so he will omit this in his scorekeeping.

He scraped his chair away from his desk, briskly grabbed his things, and booked it out of there. 

Beomgyu didnt even have a chance to annoy him (talk to him), and stared with a few confused blinks. He looked at soobin and yeonjun, who also noticed, and they both shrugged. 

Taehyun tapped his shoes quickly down the hall.

He’s had enough being the main source of their professor’s entertainment. It was time that he took matters into his own hands now before he loses his mind with his hatred (but not really hatred) for Choi Beomgyu. 

There was only one thing for taehyun to do:

Blackmail his professor, Lee Minho. 

And only one person can help him with it. 

Professor Han Jisung: best and most passionate literature professor in the english department, and totally laid back and cool.

Basically, Taehyun was being attacked by godzilla, and to beat godzilla, he needed mothra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "lucky strike" by maroon 5
> 
> Oh look, it's me again.  
> after a week of doing nothing, I went into fic withdrawal. so please enjoy this very first txt fic of mine. this is completely self-indulgent and shitty, so do not expect anything out of it. 
> 
> I hated debate in highschool, and then again in university, so this is me venting my hatred into a crack romance fic. of course stray kids are present.
> 
> also, lol, it was supposed to be a oneshot under 10k words, but lmaoooo here we are..with multiple chapters...I can't help myself.


	2. Heart Skips a Beat

There was only one thing for taehyun to do:

Blackmail his professor Lee Minho. 

And only one person can help with it. 

Taehyun marched across and down the hall to the literature classes. He stopped at a very certain classroom, only hesitating slightly before knocking. He sucked in a deep breath. This is for his well-being and peace of mind, he continued to remind himself. 

“Come in!” a very cheerful voice called out. 

Taehyun opened the door, and set his “no nonsense” facial expressions on. He marched to the desk the professor was sitting at, and studied him real quick before speaking. 

Professor Han Jisung: best and most passionate literature professor in the english department, and totally laid back and cool. He’s got dark brown hair that he styles off his forehead, and a gummy heart smile that makes all the females (and some males) swoon within seconds. He’s noted for looking like a squirrel, especially when he eats lunch. 

Yes, if anyone can help in taehyun’s cause, its him. But not for his amazing english skills and awesome personality. 

Because rumor has it, that he’s dating Professor Lee Minho. 

Professor Han looked up from his papers, giving taehyun that famous heart smile. “What can i do for you? Oh wait, i dont think ive seen you before. Wow! You are so handsome! The red hair really suits you, *gasp* you think i would look good in red? I should try it sometime-”

Taehyun cleared his throat. “Thank you, but i have a favor to ask of you.”

“Shoot your shot!” han jisung laughed, nodding his head and listening. Jesus is this guy hyper. 

“Right,” taehyun stood up more and straightened his clothes in a bit of a nervous habit of his. “I am currently taking Debate down the hall in room 325 and was having a hard time…” he started off. 

Jisung snorted. “Ah, you must be one of minho’s students. Oh god, what does he have you debate about now? I keep telling him his topic choices are outrageous,” he shook his head and rolled his eyes. 

“Well, its not the topics that are a problem,” taehyun began hesitantly. “Its more of the teams he likes to put together.”

Jisung looked at him completely confused, but intrigued, so taehyun decided it was all or nothing. Is this crazy? Yes. Does he care? No. 

“Well now im interested. Why dont you take a seat little guy and tell me what seems to be the problem,” jisung gestured for taehyun to drag a seat closer to his desk, and then leaned his chin on his hand, complete focus on taehyun. 

Taehyun resisted in correcting the professor that he was in fact at least quite a few centimeters taller than him, deciding that wouldnt go well for the future. He dragged a chair closer and sat. 

“So here’s how it goes,” taehyun sucked in a calming breath. For some reason, this professor was super easy to talk to, so he didnt leave anything out. “I cant stand this one kid in my class, and professor lee insists on always putting us against each other for debate. When i talked to him about switching up the teams for the semester, he said he didnt want to because it was way too entertaining to watch us and he gets bored easily.”

There. Taehyun said it. 

Professor han snorted at that. “Yeah, sorry about him. I understand where you are coming from. So why exactly did you decide to come to me? Its not like i can do anything to help besides give you pointers on good debating tactics, which is what you clearly dont need from me.”

Taehyun calculated out that he has a 70% chance Professor Han will not kick him out of his office if he says his next statement, so he decided to be daring for once and just go for it. 

“Because rumor has it that if anyone can get through to Professor Lee, its you. They even speculate you two are dating.”

Jisung raised a brow in amusement, so taehyun took that as a promising sign. “I dont deny nor confirm that rumor, which i think you would understand why. The professors try to be neutral during office and school hours, and we try to leave out our personal lives.”

Taehyun nodded. “Right. I totally understand that. What im trying to say is...Professor Lee Minho is like Godzilla. And the only way to defeat Godzilla is to bring in mothra.”

Jisung blinked at that, and then started laughing. “Did you just compare me and minho to gozilka and mothra?!” 

“You are my only hope,” taehyun added, a slight smile cracking the features of his serious face. 

Jisung slammed his hand down on the desk, almost startling taehyun. “Alright little man! I like you, so i think im going to help you. Plus i like to piss off minho and have nothing better to do.”

“Didnt we just take mid-terms a few days ago? You finished grading that fast?” taehyun asked, curious about it.

Professor Han made a disgusted face. “We dont need to talk about that.” 

***

_Team Edward or Team Jacob?_

Soobin raised his hand. “Sir, i never actually read or watched twilight,” he said. “So how am i supposed to argue a point?”

Professor Lee looked at him in shock. “You never-” he gasped, clutching his heart. “Yeonjun, what do you even see in him-” (yes it was common knowledge to minho since the very first day that yeonjun and soobin were dating, he wasnt blind. Plus their lover’s quarrels over the debate topics was hilarious for minho to watch)

“Hey!” soobin pouted, making yeonjun snort from the other side of the room. 

“I told you to watch it with me, sweetheart!” yeonjun called over, making the whole class laugh. 

Professor Lee rolled his eyes, going to his computer and fumbling with it for a solid minute. The other students were curious about what he was doing, but decided to act rowdy while he was momentarily distracted. The sounds of the printer cut through their laughter and chattering, making a few students flick their eyes over at their professor. Then he got up, grabbed the printed pages, and slapped them to the dry erase board at the front of the room. 

“Ok, for those of you who grew up uncultured (he gave a pointed look to soobin), i need you to pick team edward or team jacob based on these looks alone,” he said, gesturing towards the picture of edward and the picture of jacob. 

“Sir, you expect me to argue a valid point based on their looks alone?” soobin asked. 

“Yes,” minho deadpanned. “Now choose a side!” 

“We are team jacob!” beomgyu raised his hand, ignoring soobin’s grumbling next to him. 

“Fine by me, get with it,” minho shrugged, leaning back in his desk. 

Taehyun sighed. He’s not surprised at this point. Their teacher makes them debate over the weirdest things. 

Just then, the door opened, and professor Han walked into the classroom. He waved at some of the students he has from his own class, and then made his way to professor Lee.

Minho just looked at jisung curiously, his boots already resting on top of his desk. Jisung stopped within a few centimeters of him, slapped his feet off the desk, and sat down near him. 

"And why are you here? Can't you see I'm holding a class?" 

Jisung waved his words away. 

"I'm going to watch because I have a free period. That ok with you?"

Minho shrugged. "I mean, sure, but shouldn't you be grading the mid-terms during this free time-" 

"One more word, Lee," jisung threatened. 

Minho mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key. 

"You may continue," jisung said to the class with a bright smile. 

“First of all, i think being a vampire is totally cool. You can live forever,” yeonjun began.

“Yeah but die easily if you cant get the blood you need,” soobin countered. 

“At least you wouldnt turn into a disgusting hairy beast,” moonbin argued. 

“You take that back!” jinjin yelled from behind beomgyu. 

Back and forth a few people went, throwing out random fictional facts about werewolves and vampires. 

“Edward was very logical in his thinking, so it would make sense for anyone who is rational and sane to be on his team,” taehyun said.

“Ok but let’s think of it this way,” beomgyu grinned. Taehyun tensed, waiting for the counter argument that he no doubts is absolutely ridiculous. He knows the demon has been lying in wait this whole time for him to say something. 

"Jacob is way hotter, Edward just sparkles. I mean, come on man, jacob can shapeshift into a fucking wolf! You know what Edward does? Nothing, he just sparkles! Fuck sparkles, they don't even look legit. Like some thrift store knock off of diamonds." 

Taehyun banged his head into his desk. 

Beomgyu continued to ramble. "Plus, let's be logical here," (taehyun doubts there will be any logic to this) "if I was Bella and you were Jacob, I would totally want to see you rip your shirt off for the rest of our lives, you get what I'm saying-" 

"Quit flirting with the enemy!" yeonjun laughed, balling up a piece of paper and throwing it at beomgyu across the room.

Taehyun blinked at beomgyu, willing himself not to react to the stupid boy's cheeky grin and cheesy wink. He was so done with this debate. Yeonjun and the others could go on without him. Their professors Lee and Han snickered at the desk. 

"You're right, this is entertaining," jisung said to minho. 

"Told you," minho said smugly. 

Taehyun heard them, glaring at the two. Then he glanced back to beomgyu, who then blew him a kiss. 

"I have a brilliant idea," jisung whispered to minho. Then he leaned in closer and cupped his hand over minho's ear, whispering to him. 

Minho smirked, and then they high fived. 

"Ew, the teachers are flirting," sanha screeched. 

"For that, you get half credit on this debate," minho shot back at him. 

"Aww come on," sanha pouted. 

For some reason...taehyun gets the strange feeling he screwed himself over by asking Han jisung, the not-so-secret (but it's a secret) boyfriend of Lee minho to help him out. 

By the playful gleam in minho's eye, he guesses you could just call it a hunch of his. 

***

His hunch came true. Taehyun gritted his teeth as he read the email sent to all the students in professor Lee minho's english debate class. As part of the finals, all students need to submit in a 12 page report on a topic of their choosing. Due in a month.

That's not the problem though. Something as minor as a 12 page paper would be next to nothing for taehyun to complete. What the real problem is the terms of the paper. 

Taehyun glared at it, trying to will it away. 

The paper was to be done in partners. Typical. And who's taehyuns partner, you might be wondering? Well we wouldn't be here reading this fic if it wasn't the obvious.

Choi Beomgyu.

"Yeah?" He heard an answer behind him. Taehyun flinched in shock and turned around abruptly. He thought he was the only one in this printer room. He came in here in between classes to print out the notes for his literature class when he decided to check his school email really quick. 

Taehyun blinked up at the hideous (beautiful) boy in front of him, tilting his head in curiosity as he waited for taehyun to say something back. 

"What?" Taehyun said.

"You said my name?" Beomgyu responded.

Shit, did he? He must have hissed it out loud without realizing it.

 _Of course._ It would appear saying his name summons him from the underworld like the demon he was born to be.

But taehyun recovered quickly. "I _thought_ I smelled the toxic sulfur fumes wafting from your cloven hooves." 

Beomgyu started laughing, further proving taehyuns theory that he was the devil incarnate. 

He leaned in super close to taehyuns face, a playful smile still on his lips. Not that taehyun was looking at his lips or anything. 

"So that means you know what I smell like," beomgyu chuckled, switching to his daegu accent that never fails to make taehyun flush. He will never ever admit how attracted he is to beomgyus accent. That is something he will take to the grave. 

Taehyun leaned away, licking his dry lips and trying to gather his thoughts. But beomgyu saw that as a challenge, resting his hands on either side of taehyuns chair and getting even closer, so close to the point that taehyun had to look down his nose to maintain eye contact (yes he managed to look away from that forbidden area (his lips) of his face). 

"Not at all," taehyun replied, trying to hold his own. His nerves were frazzled, not knowing what beomgyu was going to do next. He needed a distraction and quick.

"We are partners," taehyun blurted, catching beomgyu's attention. 

"For what?" Beomgyu asked, leaning slightly away. 

"Our final paper for the semester. It's in partners this year," taehyun answered, starting to miss his front row seat to beomgyus unattractive (very attractive) face. 

Beomgyu straightened completely up, ruffling his hair and making it messy. Taehyun was going to combust on the spot. 

"Oh, ok cool then. I haven't checked the email yet, sooo this is news to me!" He smiled at taehyun, momentarily blinding him. "We are going to do great together!" 

"Actually, I was going to ask to change partners," taehyun blurted out again unthinking. 

No he wasn't. He didn't know why he said that. 

Beomgyus smile fell, ultimately shattering taehyuns heart along with it. 

Taehyun needs help, he knows it. 

"Aw why, taehyunnie! We would make great partners since we are really good friends and all-"

"We aren't friends-" 

"And I just know you will get us an easy A. So you go ahead and do all the work, and I'll just bring you snacks or something. Deal?" Beomgyu snickered, blinking at taehyun. 

_Do all the-_

Taehyun was flabbergasted. Without thinking, he reached over and grabbed the front of beomgyus shirt, dragging the little snot closer so that he could glare properly into his face. 

Beomgyu didn't even react when taehyun started to get handsy, dragging him in very aggressively. He saw this coming a mile away. 

The smirk never left his lips as he studied taehyuns face again up close. He taunted taehyun on purpose, trying to get a reaction out of him, and it worked. 

What? Don't judge him, he likes it when taehyun gives him attention, even if it's more on the angry side. Plus taehyun looks hot when he has that cold exterior face, fooling everyone into thinking he's calm. 

"Now listen here you little brat. I am not going to let you sit idly by while I do all the work. If we are partners I expect equal effort put into it. You might have managed to get away with it before, but I know you are perfectly capable of writing an A+ paper, so don't even try to say you aren't smart. Hell, you are probably one of the smartest in the class," taehyun ranted so close to beomgyu's face.

Beomgyu blinked at him in surprise, his smirk slightly faultering. Did taehyun...just give him a backhanded compliment? 

Beomgyu didn't respond to that, momentarily getting distracted by taehyuns lips as he continued to yell at him. He has such pretty lips and if beomgyu leaned in just a little bit more he would be able to taste them. 

So that's what he did. 

But he didn't get to taste them, unfortunately.

He leaned in super close, his back bent down completely so that he was eye level with taehyun. He tilted his head slightly to the right, and stopped just before he could brush his lips against taehyuns. 

Taehyun shut up, his breath stuttering. Beomgyu took that as a good sign.

His eyelids were half shut, and he looked at taehyun through his lashes. Taehyuns eyes were dilated, a flush creeping from his ears to his face, and beomgyu is pretty sure he was holding his breath. Beomgyus own heart was pounding a mile a minute, but he just stood there, unmoving. 

"Ok," he whispered, his breath hitting taehyuns lips. 

Taehyun licked his lips, and every nerve in beomgyus body was screaming for him to close the gap, to give in and kiss taehyun. But he didn't. Not yet. 

"You are going to help me with the paper?" Taehyun asked, his voice surprisingly calm and neutral despite all the signs being there that he was not, in fact, calm and neutral.

"Yes," he answered him, his voice slightly husky from the amount of effort he's putting in holding himself back. 

"You are going to do your fair share of the work?" Taehyun asked again, his voice still normal, his features still neutral. 

"Mm-hmm," beomgyu hummed, and then he leaned a bit away. Taehyun unconsciously followed him, leaning forward, but then he stopped himself. That was all beomgyu needed.

Yes, the attraction was definitely there. Beomgyu is sure of it now. 

Abruptly, he backed away and stood up straight, turning and heading over to one of the other computers. Believe it or not, he didn't follow taehyun to the printer room. It was the only one in this building strictly for liberal arts majors, and beomgyu needed to print out some notes for their next class. It was English literature and he shared the class with taehyun (as well as another 150 people). This printer room was a bit of a secret in the building, only a handful of people knew about it. So only a few people were ever in it at the same time throughout the day. 

Taehyun clicked his tongue and then spun back around to face his computer. "ok fine, I won't ask to change partners then. We will get this done and over with, end the semester, and hopefully never see each other again." 

"Mm-hmm," beomgyu hummed, clicking away at a computer several feet away from taehyun. He didn't dare show a reaction at how disappointed he was to hear those words, ignoring the way his stomach dropped. He doubted he would never see taehyun again, since his friend hyuka was good friends with soobin and yeonjun (he was their unofficial adopted son and could do no wrong in their eyes), but still…

There was a few more minutes of silence, taehyun doing his thing and beomgyu trying to bring up the notes. He was putting effort into his grades since it was past mid-terms. Time to get serious now. 

Beomgyu scooted his chair back and walked over to the massive printer, waiting for it to print out his book of notes for the day. When nothing happened, he frowned down at the evil contraption. 

Glancing at the clock and noting he had about 7 minutes before his class started, beomgyu tapped the screen to the printer, trying to get it to print his notes. These damn college printers never worked right, all the more reason for him not to take notes. 

Beomgyu got a closer look, the small screen telling him that tray 5 needed more paper. Seriously? What about trays 1-4? 

He continued to grumble as he opened up a nearby pack of brand new paper and started to search for tray 5. If he didn't know better, he would think this thing was a freaking transformer or something. His nail found a latch and he pulled forward. 

"Ah-ha!" He exclaimed happily, pulling the tray out and loading it with paper. He closed the tray and hit the button, waiting some more. Then it beeped again. 

"What is it now?" He mumbled, starting to get annoyed. Beomgyu doesn't have the patience for this shit. The screen said paper was jammed in tray 3. 

Tray 3?! Why the fuck was it taking paper out of tray 3 when he had to load tray 5?

So he pulled out tray 3, and saw the paper. He gripped the paper and tugged. "Oh shit," he muttered. The paper wouldn't budge. So he tugged harder and it ripped slightly. "Shit." He grabbed it better and tugged a different way, completely tearing it, with half of it still stuck in the machine. "Shit, shit." He rolled the mechanical part in the printer to try and unjam the leftover paper, and got ink on his hands. "Oh shit!" 

He finally gave up, hoping that the paper was unjammed enough to try and work the rest of the paper out, even if he has to reprint his notes. He shoved the tray back in, but it wouldn't go in all the way. "Oh my God, oh shit," he swore again while the printer started beeping at him. 

"What the hell is happening? Did you fix it?" Taehyun asked. Even though his voice was calm, beomgyu could tell he looked a little annoyed. 

Beomgyu was half crouching half sitting on the floor in front of the printer, his hands covered in ink, ripped pieces of paper all around him, and a pout on his lips. 

"Taehyunnie, the printer is broke."

"What? Did you turn it off then turn it back on?" Taehyun asked, looking at the mess beomgyu made. 

"Oh wait, good call," beomgyu said, reaching up and pushing the off button, then pushing it again to start it back up. 

The entire printer started making clicking noises and weird groaning sounds, the screen still black and no longer on. 

"Oh.. shit," beomgyu said, his eyes wide.

"Did you just break the printer?" Taehyun asked, tapping the screen. "I still need to print my notes and class starts like, right now!" He pressed the button furiously to get it to work.

"Now taehyun, don't panic," beomgyu tried to say, "and don't speak so loud. The printer can hear you and smell fear," he grinned up at taehyun. 

"I'm going to kill you. One day I will literally commit murder. Now come on, we gotta go to class. We are already late." Taehyun held a hand out for beomgyu, and he gripped it, hoisting himself up. They grabbed their bags and started speed walking to class. Taehyun glanced at his phone, noting they were 10 minutes late now. He hates being late, but honestly he can't blame beomgyu completely. 

They panted out heavy breaths as they looked into the lecture hall. 

"Oh shit," beomgyu breathed out. 

Taehyun lightly smacked him. "Would you quit that," he said, glancing at the people in the lecture hall and groaning. He ran a hand through his hair. "Dammit, I think they are taking a quiz."

Their professor liked to give pop quizzes every now and then, and today was definitely the day for one. 

"Oh well, guess we fail that one," beomgyu shrugged nonchalantly. They couldn't go in right away since it would be too obvious. 

Taehyun glared over at him. "Oh well? That's all you have to say? Now I'm not only late to class, but I missed a quiz!" 

"Yeah so? Just tell the professor you had a stomachache or something and he might let you retake it later," beomgyu reasoned. 

Taehyun got closer up in his face. "Highly doubtful, since our teacher is a hardass. My grade is going to plummet. Over 50% of our grade is quizzes and tests alone." 

Beomgyu couldn't really see what the big deal was. "Just do better next time, there's always the next exam amiright?" he shrugged again, no remorse on his face. 

Just do better-

Taehyun curled a lip upwards in a snarl. Then he stepped up into beomgyus personal space and gripped the collar of his shirt. 

"Listen here you little gremlin, I can't afford to do better next time. If you didn't fuck up the shitty printer, we wouldn't be in this situation," taehyun ranted again, shaking beomgyu back and forth as he did. 

Beomgyu tried to keep from laughing as he was being throttled. "Whoops," he grinned, laughing as taehyuns eyes went livid. 

"That's it, I'm going to kill you right here, right now," he said in a soft and deadly voice, dragging beomgyu super close and getting ready to strangle him. 

The smile never left beomgyu's face as he tuned out taehyun ranting at him. He took advantage of his closeness to the other in a heartbeat. His fingers skimmed around taehyuns waist and gripped tight, pulling the younger boy against him as close as possible. Taehyun was too busy throttling beomgyu to even notice. Beomgyu wanted to sigh in content, they fit perfect together and he loved having taehyun pressed up against him. He rubbed soft circles into the fabric of taehyuns shirt, his fingers itching to slip underneath and touch skin. 

"Are you listening to me-" 

"What's going on out here?" Their professor said, opening up the door to the lecture room and glaring down at them. 

"Uhh," taehyun began, his hands still gripping beomgyus collar in a threatening manner. He gulped, knowing exactly what this looked like. 

"Are you guys fighting?" The professor asked, glancing between the two. He didn't even give them a chance to say something before he was taking out a piece of paper and pen. "There is no fighting allowed on campus, I can't believe you would even attempt this right in front of the door for everyone to see. I'm marking you down for later." 

"But what about the quiz?" Taehyun asked pathetically. 

The professor narrowed his eyes at him. "Obviously you are getting a zero on it, is that even a question? And you are banned from the classroom for the rest of the lecture today." 

Taehyun spluttered, not knowing what to do. The professor spun back around and slammed the door back in their faces. His grip on beomgyu loosened and he backed away. Beomgyu quickly let go of his waist, already missing his warmth. 

"Oh well, I guess there is always next ti-" 

Taehyun started swatting his arm harshly, smacking him back and forth. 

"Ow, taehyunnie that hurts, wha-" 

Taehyun dragged him away from the door, and then started hitting him some more. "Thanks a lot Satan, now I'm gonna have a professional point marked off my grade." 

"In my defense, I wasn't the one who started ranting in front of the doorway for the whole class to see," beomgyu chuckled, letting taehyun hit him. 

***

Soobin, yeonjun, and hueningkai looked up from their books, watching in curiosity and amusement as beomgyu and taehyun bickered all the way to their table. They were in one of the common rooms on campus, little hidden alcoves you can sit in to do homework or chill before your next class. 

"Hey everybody, today taehyun hit me, so im starting a gofundme to put him down. The benefits of killing him would be i would get hit way less-" 

“What did he do this time?” hyuka sighed, turning to taehyun and ignoring beomgyu. 

“He made us late for class, and get a zero on our quiz,” taehyun said simply. 

"Not true!" Beomgyu pouted. "It wasn't my fault the printer broke-"

"Wait that was YOU that broke it, aw cmon man I had to print my paper earlier-" yeonjun whined.

"And then you were the one trying to beat me up and bruise my innocent and pretty face right in front of the whole class-" beomgyu continued. 

"That's it, I'm strangling you. My parents always told me I had to be proactive," taehyun said, tackling beomgyu to the couch opposite hyuka and putting him in a chokehold. 

Beomgyu was laughing, his smile wide as he tried to get out of taehyuns grip. 

"Why won't you just go back into the ground where you came from!" Taehyun hissed. Beomgyu giggled, gripping taehyuns arm around his neck. He was ticklish there. 

"So, they seem to be getting along fine," soobin said, smiling and going back to his laptop. 

"I even called the tech guy to come up and fix it because there was just paper everywhere and-" yeonjun continued to ramble. 

"Anyways, have you guys decided what you are going to do for your paper together?" Soobin asked taehyun and beomgyu. Soobin and yeonjun were also partnered together (please, I'm begging you guys to be surprised about this). 

"That's if he survives before the due date," taehyun muttered. Beomgyu lightly smacked him in the arm at that. 

"Nope! But we will come up with something. Taehyunnie is super smart, I know I can always count on him," beomgyu beamed at the others, hooking an arm around taehyuns shoulders. He didn't notice the slight duck of taehyuns head and ghost of a smile on his lips at the compliment. Not many people throughout his life were unbothered by his intimidating intelligence. Usually they hated how smart he was (taehyun doesn't know why. It's not like he flaunts his grades around and talks down to those that do bad). But the fact that beomgyu doesn't care one bit somehow makes him feel really good about himself. 

***

Taehyun panted, glancing between yeonjun and hyuka. 

"Where...is," *huff* "he?!" He gasped. It's been two weeks since their final paper project was announced, and beomgyu has been holding it off expertly. Every time taehyun tells him they were going to work on it, beomgyu somehow mysteriously disappears or conveniently has something else going on. Now they are down to two more weeks before it's due, and taehyun really doesn't want to worry about working on this while also studying for finals. 

"Where's who?" Hyuka asked, shifting his eyes slightly. Taehyun squinted his eyes suspiciously at him, being able to read him effortlessly. 

"He's here," taehyun said, looking around. "I know it." 

"Uhhh…"yeonjun stalled, unsure of whether to just come out and admit it or wait and see what happens.

Lucky for him, he didn't have to say anything, because suddenly taehyun dropped to the floor on his hands and knees, glaring under the table yeonjun and hyuka were sitting at. 

"I _thought_ I felt the flames of hell coming from down here," he said, staring right into beomgyus eyes. 

Beomgyu giggled, reacting fast. He shot up from under the table on yeonjun and hyukas side, then planted his hand on the surface and leaped over it effortlessly. He tried to book it past taehyun, but taehyun was also quick in his reflexes. He gripped beomgyu's hoodie, dragging him close so that their faces were an inch apart. 

Beomgyu was laughing and breathing at the same time, a big smile on his face. "hi, there," he said breathlessly. 

Taehyun swallowed, mentally stomping down on the giddy feeling he got from being close to beomgyu. "Don't just 'hi, there' to me, we have to start and finish our paper today. You've been evading me long enough." 

"Aww come on taehyunnie! We have still two whole weeks before it's due. Why do we have to do it today?" Beomgyu complained. Taehyun rolled his eyes at him and ignored his whining. 

"Quit bitching. I'm going to stick like glue to you all day so you can't escape," he grumbled, beginning to drag beomgyu away by his hoodie collar. Beomgyu had no choice but to follow. "You will not leave my side for a second. We are going to sit next to each other throughout the rest of our classes, and then you are coming with me afterwards." 

Beomgyu groaned with annoyance (that oddly was attractive to taehyun). "But next class we are having a quiz and I don't wanna go to it. If I have to sit by you, can I just copy yours?" 

Taehyun paused in his march to the door. He looked back at beomgyu with a blank stare. "No. Now come on," he said, dragging beomgyu again with surprising strength. 

Beomgyu looked over his shoulder, grinning at yeonjun and hyuka with a mischievous smile. 

The door to the study room slammed shut and hyuka looked over at yeonjun. 

"There's no way he planned this. I refuse to believe beomgyu is that clever to purposely avoid taehyun for two whole weeks so that he will finally snap and force him to stay by his side all day long."

"He's even scarier than I thought," yeonjun said. 

***

Taehyun slammed his finger onto the button of the elevator, waiting for it to arrive on their floor. The old thing creaked and groaned, which is usually a very concerning sign. 

But this is college. The buildings are old, the foundation crumbling, and the university cutting corners in every way possible just to save a dime. 

Which also means some of the elevators in the older buildings are very shitty, and very questionable regarding safety and up to date regulations. 

Not that the college kids care. They still use it daily if it means they don't have to walk up 5 flights of stairs every day to get to their classroom. 

"Ack taehyun. Can't you let go of my collar now?" Beomgyu asked, faking about not being able to breathe. Taehyun wasn't holding on to him that tight, beomgyu was just being dramatic. 

Taehyun let go of his hold, his anger dissipating now that he actually has beomgyu within reach. "Oh, yeah, sorry about that," he said, but didn't actually sound like he was sorry. 

The elevator dinged and opened up, the doors screeching in the process. Taehyun and beomgyu walked on, not caring at all. All of the students who were unfortunate enough to have classes assigned to this building were familiar with the old death trap. The doors screeched shut, and then the entire thing bounced a bit before making it's slow ascent to one of the upper floors. 

Beomgyu yawned, already tired from thinking about the quiz they were going to have to take in less than 20 minutes. 

"This class is so boring, I should have just skipped," he said, pouting his lips out a bit and furrowing his eyebrows. 

Taehyun rolled his eyes. "You can't skip. We have a quiz today that's worth a good 20% of our grade. Finals are coming up soon." 

"Ugh, don't remind me," beomgyu grumbled. 

"Did you even study last night?" Taehyun asked curiously. 

"Nope! I'm a firm believer of 'winging it'" beomgyu grinned and laughed. 

Taehyun shook his head, baffled with how beomgyu could be so relaxed and carefree about his grades. Although, taehyun has no doubt the other boy will ace the quiz even without studying. Hes secretly a little bit jealous, but also really amazed and even admires beomgyu for being able to do that (he would rather jump from a bridge than admit that though). 

The elevator rumbled and rocked as it neared the fifth floor. Taehyun adjusted his backpack as he waited for it to stop. The dingy light above them flickered a bit and then went out. Taehyun and beomgyu both glanced above them at it, but then lost their footing as the elevator stopped abruptly, rocking up and down a bit and making weird groaning sounds. Finally, it squealed, like metal rubbing against metal, and then that too stopped. 

It was pitch black in the elevator and completely silent for a few seconds. Neither taehyun nor beomgyu moved as it slowly dawned on them that the elevator, the persistent old dinosaur, has finally broken down. 

And they were trapped inside.

"I think the elevator broke," beomgyu said dumbly. Taehyun moved his head to the side to look at beomgyu, even though he couldn't see anything in the pitch black box. 

"Yeah, it would seem that way," he replied. He sighed, too tired to deal with this. 

Not wanting to lose his footing from being disoriented in the dark, taehyun slowly bent towards the ground and sat on the floor of the elevator. He had a feeling it was going to take a long time before help came. This building wasn't super crowded or busy, only their classmates the ones present currently at this time of day. Once someone realizes the elevator doesn't work, surely they would call for help.

Right?

"Taehyun, where did you go?" Beomgyu said, trying to feel around next to him and coming up with air.

"I'm sitting on the ground," taehyun told him. 

"Oh." Beomgyu joined him, kneeling on the floor and reaching forward, his hand coming in contact with a face.

"Pshh ow quit it," taehyun said, trying to lean away from beomgyus grabby hands. Beomgyu brushed his fingertips gently down the middle of taehyuns face, absentmindedly tracing his nose and along his lips. Taehyun kept still, curling his fingertips into the floor of the dirty elevator, his breath catching in his throat. He prayed beomgyu wouldn't feel the heat coming from his cheeks. 

"There you are," beomgyu whispered. Taehyun could hear the smile in his voice, and it took all he had to resist the urge to lick his lips, to lean into beomgyus touch. 

Beomgyu traced taehyuns bottom lip with his pointer finger, and then he pulled away, sighing and flinging himself against the wall of the elevator. He shuffled until he was comfortable, sitting next to taehyun in the dark. 

Taehyun swallowed the dry lump in his throat, trying to desperately get his heart rate down. He breathed in slowly and then released it quietly. 

"This sucks," beomgyu complained. "Do you think we are going to die from lack of oxygen?" He wondered. 

Taehyun blinked, snapping out of his daze. He snorted, taking off his bag and setting it next to him. "No, we aren't going to die from lack of oxygen. It's not like we are sealed in here or trapped under water." 

Beomgyu chuckled. "Obviously I was kidding. I know at least that much. Well, it looks like we are stuck in here for awhile, might as well get comfortable." He shrugged off his own bag and kicked it out of the way. 

It was again quiet in the darkened elevator, the only sounds of both their breathing. Taehyun tried to close his eyes and think of calming things, but to be honest? The combination of both the dark and quiet atmosphere was freaking him out a little bit. 

So here's the thing. Taehyun is pretty independent. He's almost 20 years old and he can take care of anything for himself. He reasons out his problems and tackles any obstacle with logic. 

So, mentally he knows that it's just a dark place, he knows he's only trapped in a dysfunctional elevator, and he knows he will be perfectly fine. But the other side of his brain, the emotional side, has other ideas. 

Taehyun is not necessarily afraid of the dark. He doesn't have anxiety or panic attacks, or even nightmares like other people. However, the dark has always made him uncomfortable. He hates being left to his own mind, and what better way to bring out all of your worries and unwanted thoughts than the pitch black and quiet stillness of the night? That's why he always has some kind of white noise to drown out his thoughts before bed. This white noise comes in the form of his fan he keeps on his desk, the subtle humming of his mini fridge in the corner of the room, or even music he puts on to help him fall asleep. All of these things are essential if he's to have a good night's rest. 

Which brings us back to the current predicament of taehyun trapped in a very quiet and darkened elevator, in a somewhat stressful situation, and left to his own thoughts. 

He feels uneasy. His skin feels clammy and his lips dry as the usual worries start to bombard him in this tight space. He needs a distraction. He needs to grab onto something to keep him grounded. 

Beomgyu sighed again right next to him, making taehyun snap out of his thoughts once more. 

He wants to hold his hand. 

Beomgyu is the king of distractions. What taehyun needs is to be closer to him, get him talking so that he won't have to internally freak out anymore. 

Taehyun chewed the inside of his cheek, battling through his indecisiveness for a short while. He is prideful. He hates the fact that he wants to be closer to the other boy. Beomgyu has always driven him crazy. And mostly good crazy. Taehyun likes holding hands, that's his _thing_. Some people like hugs, some like kisses on the cheek. Well, taehyun likes to hold hands or link arms with someone close to ged rid of the anxiety and uneasiness he sometimes feels. 

And so, right now in this moment of slight weakness, taehyun really wants to hold beomgyus hand. He wants to curl into his side and maybe listen to his breathing or his nonstop talking to help him focus on something else. 

But first, baby steps. 

He kept his eyes closed (it helps in dealing with the dark), and slowly, carefully, quietly, he reached out his left hand in search for beomgyu's, praying he had his hand resting near the ground in the space between them. 

It would seem luck was on his side.

The tips of taehyuns fingers brushed against warm skin, and he held his breath. He gently skimmed the back of beomgyu's hand, searching for a way to get the boy to curl his hand around taehyuns protectively. He would rather intertwine his fingers completely, but that was just wishful thinking right now. 

So taehyun just awkwardly rested his hand on top of beomgyus, feeling the other boy tense slightly. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping beomgyu wouldn't comment about it. 

But when did beomgyu ever keep his mouth shut? 

The answer was never.

"Hmm? Taehyunnie? Is that your hand?" He asked curiously. He wasn't laughing or being mean, he was more confused than anything. 

Taehyun let out a hesitant breath. "Yeah…" he said quietly, but it felt like his voice bounced off the walls. 

"Ok?" Beomgyu said, like it was a question. He didn't brush taehyuns hand off of his own, though. 

Taehyun didn't want to admit the reason. He didn't want to appear vulnerable or awkward. It was a dumb reason anyways. He hoped beomgyu would let it go. 

But did that devil ever do anything taehyun expects of him?

No, he doesn't. Which is probably why taehyun likes him so much. 

"Oh I get it," beomgyu snickered. "Is my taehyunnie scared of the dark? Do you need beomgyu hyung to fend off the scary monsters and-" 

"No!" Taehyun spoke up a bit loud for the elevator, immediately shutting the other up from his teasing. He cleared his throat, also ignoring the way beomgyu called him _his_. "No, I'm not scared of the dark. I just…" he started. "I just, feel so uncomfortable in it. I hate the dark…" he trailed off. 

"Oh," beomgyu said a bit uncertainly. He doesn't know quite what to do now. He doesn't know how to make taehyun feel better without crossing boundaries he's unsure of still. 

Luckily for him, taehyun told him how to fix it. How he could be of help. 

"Can you...hold my hand? For a little while," taehyun mumbled. Then it almost seemed like he realized how weird that sounded, and he immediately got shy. "Wait, nevermind, I know that seems a bit weird, so if you're uncomfortable with it that's totally fine with me and-" he began to drag his hand away from beomgyus. 

Beomgyu was quick though, a grin forming at the corners of his lips despite taehyun being unable to see it in the dark. He reached out and wrapped taehyuns hand in his, interlocking their fingers so taehyun couldn't escape. Then he moved their hands into his hoodie pocket in his lap. 

"Like this?" Beomgyu asked, trying to take on an innocent tone. 

Taehyun nodded in response, but then quickly realized beomgyu can't see him. So he cleared his throat slightly. "Y-yeah, thanks," he said quietly. He's lucky beomgyu also couldn't see how warm his cheeks were. He gently flexed his hand, taking comfort in beomgyu's warmth even if it did start to get a little sticky from being inside his hoodie pocket, but there was no way in hell taehyun was going to remove his hand now. 

"So, is this the part where you tell me some sort of trauma happened to you in the dark when you were young, and that's why you are uncomfortable years later?" Beomgyu said light-heartedly, trying to joke around but also get taehyun to open up a bit about himself. Besides the stuff beomgyu already knows from observing (stalking) him, of course. 

Taehyun was silent for a second too long, making beomgyu worry that the other boy really was suffering from a trauma, and oh god he shouldn't have said that because what if he accidentally offended or made taehyun feel uncomfortable around him, and he was honestly just joking because he would never ever make fun of someone about something like that and-

And then taehyun snorted. He lightly bumped shoulders with beomgyu, secretly and sneakily pressing his body up against his and remaining there (what? It's cold!) (Lol not really), and then chuckling. "Hyung, you read way too many fan fictions. There is no way in hell I would pour out my deep dark past in the middle of a crisis and emergency. We gotta keep our heads clear in case we really can't get out of here or nobody notices we are missing." Taehyun blew at some of his bangs, ending his mini-rant. 

Beomgyu breathed out a huge sigh of relief, chastising himself to be more careful with his words around others. Then he gasped, making taehyun flinch slightly. "How did you know I read fan fiction online?!" He squinted his eyes as a certain someone popped into his head. " _Soobin,_ " he muttered, nodding his head and immediately placing the blame on the poor helpless other boy. (somewhere on campus, in one of the classrooms, soobin sneezed, rubbing his nose in confusion at the sudden action)

Taehyun sighed. "I didn't know. But I figured you would be the type to do that. Thanks for confirming." He squeezed beomgyu's hand in an iron grip, making beomgyu make a noise of protest. But they still didn't let go of each other. 

"And to answer your question and curiosity, because I know you well enough to know you are still wondering...I don't like the dark because my mind races too much in it. I'm not scared of the dark, I'm scared of my thoughts. I guess you could call it a little bit of insomnia? So I usually need a distraction to help me fall asleep or to pass the time. So quit being so dramatic," he said, rolling his eyes. 

"Oh…, thank you for telling me then," beomgyu said softly. He tapped his shoes slightly as the silence stretched on. "Well, thank God we got stuck in an elevator, because I really didn't want to take that quiz today," beomgyu started to ramble on. 

Taehyun laughed, tilting his head into beomgyu's hoodie sleeve, secretly breathing in his scent. "I can't believe you would rather get stuck in an elevator than take a stupid quiz." 

"Hey! It's not just any quiz! Today's quiz was gonna be hard, and I'm tired," beomgyu tried to defend himself. "Plus I would take getting stuck in an elevator any day as long as it's with you," he said cheekily. 

Andddd there goes taehyuns heart again. 

Deep down, like way way deep down, taehyun clearly knows what the pounding of his heart means. He just doesn't want to deal with it in this exact moment. Being stuck in an elevator with the person you hate (he doesn't hate beomgyu) and in the dark makes him want to be bolder, to do bolder things he would never imagine doing. So for now, he's going to ignore his racing pulse and flushed cheeks and strong urge to bury his face in the crook of beomgyu's neck, he's going to ignore the feelings he gets when beomgyu grips his hand tight and plays with his fingers in that annoying (adorable) habit he has, and he's going to not think about how great it feels to be pressed against beomgyu's side like he belongs there. 

See what taehyun means when he says he can't stand the dark? His mind is a mess. 

Beomgyu pressed his lips into a thin line, trying really hard to play it cool. 

He's honestly not succeeding. How can he play it cool when the love of his life is pressed so nice against him, with his pretty hand intertwined with his like they were made for each other? He was buzzing all over with excitement. 

Taehyun was just so cute, needing someone to hold his hand while they were in the dark and trusting beomgyu enough to be slightly vulnerable and ask for help. Beomgyu would do anything for taehyun, literally anything, and that thought was a bit scary. 

Beomgyu leaned his head back against the wall and held in a sigh. 

Taehyun is 'it' for him. This might sound crazy, or even delusional, but he just knows deep down. It's hard to explain, but have you ever felt just so comfortable with someone? Beomgyu has always been a flighty individual. He bounces from one thing to the next, never really taking interest in much. His attention is always all over the place. He gets bored easily, we already know this. But not once is it ever boring with taehyun. He will always find himself wondering what taehyun was doing in that moment, his eyes will always stay on taehyun even if he was in a room with over a hundred other good looking people. Beomgyu was basically a fish that got snared on taehyuns hook, and he has no intentions of going anywhere. 

Sitting here with taehyun is pure torture for him. Taehyun says he needed a distraction in the dark, something to keep his mind busy with. Well, beomgyu has plenty of ideas for a distraction, particularly involving him pinning taehyun against the elevator and having a taste of his lips, or something. Just you know, to pass the time, no big deal. 

But beomgyu wasn't that type of person. He wouldn't do that to taehyun before confirming how the other boy feels for him. He has no right to be aggressive and possessive with him (at least not yet). 

So instead beomgyu did the next best thing: he talked to taehyun. Just seriously talked to him, about anything and everything. And he liked it, liked it a lot. He liked listening to what taehyun had to say. He admired the way taehyun viewed the world, and loved how taehyun's choice of words always sound so pretty. He could write lyrics, quoting taehyun with some of the things he says, it was honestly beautiful and poetic. 

And maybe beomgyu fell even a little bit more in love with taehyun that day. 

"...you know, I think they honestly forgot about us. We have cell phones, couldn't we have just called someone for help?" Beomgyu wondered. 

Taehyun shook his head against beomgyu's shoulder. He was getting sleepy. "Already tried that earlier. No service and no wifi in here. And this elevator is so old, I doubt there's an emergency button to hit, or it probably doesn't work since it's so outdated." 

Taehyun's head started getting heavier and heavier to hold up, and he slowly started to dip down until his head rested against beomgyu. His eyelids were getting harder to keep open as well. 

"Damn, now I'm starting to get worried," beomgyu muttered. Sure, it was fine at first, but what if they really were stuck here permanently? 

"Mm-hmm," taehyun hummed, his eyes shutting involuntarily. 

Beomgyu looked down, but it was no good with his poor sight. All he could feel was taehyuns head against his shoulder, and he kept really really still. 

"Are you sleeping?" Beomgyu asked softly, brushing his nose over taehyun's hair, slightly nuzzling into the other boy. 

"Yes," taehyun replied. Beomgyu chuckled at that and taehyun could feel the slight shake of his body. Taehyun was never one to lie or soften his words. Beomgyu liked that, he liked how genuine taehyun was. 

"Ok, it's not like we are going anywhere anyways. I'll let you know when we are free," beomgyu muttered quietly, his daegu accent more prominent. 

"Mm-kay," was all he heard before it went quiet. 

Beomgyu waited a few minutes before smiling and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of taehyun's head. 

Ugh he was so screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "heart skips a beat" by olly Murs
> 
> Reminder: this is shitty and purely self indulgent with literally no effort put into this at all. Please do not have any expectations 🤡


	3. Blue Orangeade

"Move! Out of our way!" Yeonjun yelled, shoving through the small crowd on the fifth floor by the elevator. Soobin was on his heels, and hueningkai was right behind them. They towered over everyone there. 

"Hey, watch it!" Someone yelled back to yeonjun, clearly agitated by being jostled against other people. 

"Yeah, get in the back buddy! We were here first!" 

Yeonjun turned to the student who was blocking his way and literally growled at him, ready to pounce. 

Now you see, Yeonjun was popular and a very easy going guy. He was a social butterfly and very charming, everyone loved and adored him. But he also had a horrible temper that rarely surfaced from time to time. It mostly only came out when he was super stressed or when someone important to him was hurt. 

And right now was definitely one of those times. He tried contacting beomgyu about something right after his last class (which was over 2 hours ago!) But the text didn't go through. Yeonjun frowned at his phone and dialed beomgyus number to be annoying (how dare beomgyu turn off his phone!). When the call didn't go through, he tried taehyun (assuming the boy didn't already murder and bury beomgyus body nearby), but that also was turned off. 

Yeonjun then shot up from his spot in the middle of the common room, his mom instincts kicking in. A few other students gave him some funny looks, but then went back to their usual conversations. 

Something was wrong.

He could sense it. 

He then grabbed his bags, called up soobin and hyuka, and went to go wait for beomgyu and taehyun until their class ended for the day. 

Which brings us back to the present. Yeonjun's mom instincts never failed him, and when he got to the fifth floor and heard what was happening, he almost had a heart attack. 

So, before yeonjun could pounce on this punk ass kid for blocking his path in the crowd to the elevator, soobin laid a calming hand on his shoulder, keeping the beast at bay. 

Choi Soobin was a very gentle and "old" soul. He was calm, and passive. He was like the sturdy foundation to their little friend group, and a stark contrast to yeonjuns often impulsive and wild nature. He preferred to live a quiet life, often avoiding conflict whenever he could. 

However, that did not mean, in any way whatsoever, that Choi Soobin was a doormat or weak minded. There was a damn good reason why he and yeonjun are perfect for each other, which most people often overlooked.

Because even though yeonjun had a big ball of temper and a short fuse, blowing up at someone in a moment's notice, it was soobin who was the truly scary one when he got mad. 

The moment his warm hand landed on yeonjun's shoulder, yeonjun immediately backed off. Only soobin was able to tame the older boy, and yeonjun has avoided many conflicts and fights because of his boyfriend's level-headedness during times of heated moments. 

Soobin glared at the kid who was being a little bitch, and said "move," with such a striking tone that even a few others scooted away for the three tall males to pass by more easily. 

Yeonjun stuck his tongue out childishly at the guy glaring at them, and smiled when soobin took his hand and led them through the rest of the crowd to the front by the elevator. 

Then yeonjun's mom instincts kicked back in, and he marched right up to the old and grungy looking maintenance guy who was obviously working on the broken elevator. 

He placed a hand on his hip and looked down his nose at the guy. "Are they going to be okay? How much longer is this going to take?" 

The maintenance guy stopped messing with the electrical wires coming out of the elevator button to glance at yeonjun. 

"Everyone needs to back away while I work," he said rudely. 

"You didn't answer my questions," yeonjun hissed. He could feel the strong presence of soobin behind him, ready at a moment's notice to back him up (not that yeonjun needed any help, but he did feel better having soobin (and hyuka) with him). 

"I don't know kid, I just got a call that the elevator was down. Didn't know people were trapped in there. I'm sure they're fine," the maintenance guy shrugged carelessly. 

"You _didn't know-_ ?!" Yeonjun squeaked. He was so shocked, so angry, that he had to hold his chest dramatically for a second there while he took deep breaths and tried to think happy thoughts instead of clawing out this guy's eyes for being so nonchalant when beomgyu and taehyun could get _hurt_.

The maintenance guy gave him a weird look while yeonjun tried not to go into hysterics. "Look, I'm going to need you to back away while I work here. Unless you are directly related to whoever is stuck in there, you can go wait with everyone else until the elevator is fixed." 

"I will do no such thing! Those are our two sons stuck in there, and I'm going to wait right here until I know they are okay!" Yeonjun demanded, telling the guy this with absolutely no shame whatsoever. 

That actually made the maintenance guy pause in his motions. "'our two sons?'" he repeated in a question. He continued his work on the electrical wires to the elevator while yeonjun rambled. 

"Did I stutter?" Yeonjun sassed back, raising his chin up. "I said what I said. Mine and soobin's pride and joy are stuck in there, probably scared and trembling without their parents. Our precious beomgyu, and sweet little taehyun better not have a scratch on them or so help me-" 

"I didn't realize," the maintenance guy said, actually starting to sound worried. "How old are they and what do they look like?" He asked as standard procedure for anyone who is missing (or in this case, in danger of being trapped in an elevator). 

Yeonjun didn't miss a beat. "Beomgyu is 20 years old, black hair, 6ft tall and not the brightest bulb of the bunch, but me and soobin love him unconditionally anyways. Taehyun is 19 years old, has red hair that I keep insisting for him to change to pink, and just under 6ft. He might not be the biggest on the outside, but he's got a big heart on the inside to make up for it...i think...somewhere. He's our prodigy and if any of the three children can make it in life, taehyun would be it. I still have my worries for hueningkai, our youngest, but soobin said he was just special-"

"Hey!" Hyuka shouted behind yeonjun, whacking him in the ass.

The maintenance guy was totally glaring by now, obviously understanding that either yeonjun was bat shit crazy or messing with him. (Yeonjun was actually dead serious about all of it, but that's something normal people wouldn't understand). So soobin finally stepped in and dragged yeonjun a few feet away, putting an end to this conversation with finality. 

"We will just wait here quietly, sir," he said to the guy. 

***

About 45 minutes later, the elevator finally opened up onto the fifth floor, and out came beomgyu and a sleepy looking taehyun. They were still holding hands, which soobin and hyuka found very amusing, but it escaped the eyes of yeonjun as he rushed forward and crushed them both into a hug (he may be smaller than soobin and hyuka, who was standing tall at an impressive 189cm and 187cm, but he still had a few centimeters over beomgyu and taehyun). 

"Oh my poor babies! Don't worry, junnie hyung is here now," he cooed, leaning over and kissing their cheeks repeatedly. 

"Ew what the hell hyung! Get off!" Beomgyu tried to squirm his way out of yeonjun's embrace, but that damn yeonjun was extremely strong. Stronger than all of them, actually, (although yeonjun suspects soobin is either too lazy to show his true strength or holding back on him in arm wrestling) even though his twig arms might mislead you. 

"Taehyun, tell him to let go!" He whined childishly. All five of them were oblivious to the other students still crowded around, some waiting for the elevator and some just here for the drama. 

But instead of blowing up at yeonjun like beomgyu expected, taehyun giggled when yeonjun kissed his cheeks and ruffled his hair affectionately. Beomgyu was dumbstruck and shocked at the little sound that escaped from the other boy. He blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing this right. Taehyun was passed over to soobin for a hug and he just looked so tiny and small and adorable and-

Beomgyu gave up his fight, instead opting to hide his slightly warm face into yeonjun's arm. 

Yeonjun looked down, his dramatic behavior now over since beomgyu and taehyun seemed fine. "Hmm?" He hummed curiously. 

"Hyung, he's just so cute," beomgyu muttered hopelessly to yeonjun. "My poor heart can't take it anymore." 

Yeonjun chuckled, wrapping his arm over beomgyu's shoulders in a more bro/manly sort of way now. "Just hang in there gyu. You will figure it out, I'm sure of it." 

***

"What are you doing?" Hyuka asked, walking up to taehyun before entering the coffee line that was growing longer by the second. 

Taehyun was currently standing outside of the line, staring at something very intently with his head slightly tilted. 

Hyuka followed his line of sight a few people ahead of them and then smirked and snickered at taehyun who still hasn't answered him or even acknowledged his existence yet.

"Oh my god, are you checking out beomgyus ass?!" Hyuka asked him, making taehyun slightly wince at his loud voice. 

"Keep it down, genius. And so what? I may hate the guy but I'm not blind. He totally fills in his dress pants, and when he leans on his hip like that…" taehyun trailed off, momentarily distracted as beomgyu adjusted and leaned on his hip while waiting for his turn to order a caramel macchiato (actually he was gonna get two, for taehyun as well, knowing it was taehyuns absolute favorite coffee drink, but taehyun doesn't know that yet).

So, being the great best friend that he was, Hyuka joined taehyun and angled his head, also checking beomgyu out. "Yeah, I guess I can see where you're coming from," his best friend nodded in approval. 

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" Soobin asked a minute later, walking up with yeonjun after the two older boys spotted them on their way to their dorms.

"Checking out beomgyus ass and legs," hyuka told them shamelessly. Taehyun nodded, tilting his head to the other side when beomgyu adjusted to the other hip now. 

"Wha-" soobin began, but then glanced over at yeonjun and rolled his eyes.

Yeonjun was now tilting his head with taehyun and hyuka. "Yeah, they got a point. He looks great in those dress pants. Usually he looks like a scrawny little thing when he wears bigger clothing, but wow he fills that in nicely." Then yeonjun looked up at soobin with a panicked face. "But your ass is still my favorite, don't get the wrong idea-" 

"Oh my God, I literally don't care," soobin snorted. Then he whacked yeonjun, taehyun, and hyuka. "Quit staring at him like a bunch of perverts. You are going to draw attention to us," he chastised them. 

"I was just being a good best friend," hyuka pouted, rubbing his head. Soobin was stronger than he looked. 

"And risk beomgyus ego inflating?" Soobin questioned. 

"Ok you have a point there," yeonjun snapped his fingers. "The last thing we need is beomgyu running around flaunting himself and gaining everyone's attention because he knows he looks good." 

Taehyun frowned at that. There will be no flaunting allowed. 

He forced his eyes away from beomgyu and sighed while checking the time. It's been two days since the whole elevator fiasco, and they still haven't sat down to start their term paper. So today was the day. But beomgyu whined and complained about needing some form of coffee if he was going to do this seriously, so here they are. Hyuka texted taehyun when they first arrived at the campus cafe, and that's how we got to taehyun standing out of line and checking beomgyu out while waiting for the older boy to get his drink. 

Earlier today, beomgyu had to present something stupid for one of his other classes he doesn't share with taehyun. And that involved him having to dress up, much to his dismay. But you won't see taehyun complaining. Nope, not one bit. 

Unfortunately for taehyun, he wasn't the only one who noticed beomgyu standing in line. The cashier flirted with him, the barista leaned in close when giving him his orders (it still didn't occur to taehyun that beomgyu was carrying _two_ drinks), and a few guys behind him waiting for their own drinks stopped him on his way over to say something. Beomgyu smiled at them, shaking his head, his messy hair falling into his eyes and he blew on them a bit so he could see better.

There was a sour taste to taehyun's mouth, a horrible queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, a rare flash of possessiveness that took hold of his heart. 

And finally, for the first time, taehyun paused for a second and really truly thought about what these emotions mean to him. 

He briefly considered the possibility that he was jealous. Maybe he was jealous of the fact that other people were paying special attention to beomgyu?

Taehyun continued to stare at beomgyu as he turned away from those other people and began walking straight for him. He was smiling at something those other students said to him, and his pretty teeth were on full display. He looked forward, and locked eyes with taehyun as he side stepped more students in the crowded area. 

No, taehyun wasn't jealous. 

Being jealous means you are worried someone was wanting something of yours, something you already have. That would imply beomgyu was taehyun's to keep and cherish.

No, it wasn't jealousy that taehyun was feeling. What he was feeling was envy. 

Being envious means you want or feel what another person has. And right now, in this moment, taehyun wishes he could be like those other people. He wishes he was the one beomgyu was smiling at or giving special attention to. He wants to be the center of beomgyu's world just like how beomgyu is the center of his. 

And to be honest? Taehyun hates feeling like this. It sucks pining after someone and doing nothing about it. That's why he's been trying so hard to avoid admitting how much he likes beomgyu. 

However, he can't run forever.

Unbeknownst to taehyun, when beomgyu spotted him in the crowd, his eyes got much brighter. There was a hurried rush in his step to get closer to him faster, and his smile became more genuine. All three boys except taehyun could see it. 

"Taehyunnie!" He called, smiling even wider. "I got us both a nice warm cup of caramel macchiato! Your favorite," he winked, handing the cup to taehyun and snapping the red head out of his thoughts. "I figured both of us are going to need this for the night we are about to have," he pouted. 

Taehyun blinked at him, holding the cup of warm coffee in his hands. "How did you know this is my favorite-" he began to ask, but beomgyu laughed and rolled his eyes, like that was the most ridiculous question ever.

"It's so obvious! You always order this on the mornings you feel super tired, probably because you're a nerd who studies till late at night. Also I would have gotten you a piece of cake or pie, but I know you don't like sweet things that much. So I figured we can just stop by the store and get something savory or salty instead, like ramyeon or whatever. As long as it's not sea food then I don't mind." 

Taehyun nodded, trying to hide his surprise. He was secretly pleased that beomgyu knew exactly what he liked. He doesn't remember telling beomgyu though…

Beomgyu linked his arm with taehyun's and then spun them around towards the exit. "Ok bye guys! We will be at taehyunnie's place working on this dreadful paper." 

"Yeah, see you," taehyun said, not at all bothered that beomgyu was clinging to him. 

"Ok!" Yeonjun waved, smiling at the two of them. 

Hyuka shook his head at his retreating friends, then he moved up as the line continued to shorten. 

***

As soon as beomgyu entered taehyun's place, he threw his bag on the ground and asked where the bathroom was so he could change out of his dress clothes. He hated being all prim and proper, and was already unbuttoning the top of his dress shirt while waiting for taehyun to tell him which direction to go in (he could probably figure it out since the dorm wasn't that big to begin with, but he didn't want to seem rude). 

Taehyun's eyes were glued to beomgyu's hands as they fumbled with his shirt, and beomgyu paused while quirking an eyebrow at him in amusement. 

"Taehyunnie? What you thinking about?" He said with a sly smirk on his lips. 

Taehyun blinked, snapping his gaze back up to beomgyu within seconds and schooling his features into a neutral expression. 

"Nothing. The bathroom is down the hall first door on the left," he said cooly. 

"Kayyy~" beomgyu said joyfully, then grabbed his smaller bag of casual clothes and skipped to the bathroom. 

Once the door clicked shut, taehyun blew out a breath and scratched at his neck from panic. 

Taehyun has it bad for beomgyu, like _really_ bad. He now fully admits to it. 

But come on, can you blame him, especially when beomgyu came to campus looking like _that??_ Taehyun was by no means an impulsive person, but he's been fighting the urge to jump beomgyu all day today. 

He's got to fix this. And soon. 

Plus, he's pretty sure beomgyu knows about his feelings, and taehyun wasn't going to lose to him. Not even in something like this. 

So, he continued to idly scratch at his neck in that nervous tick of his, and bit his lip as he considered what to do next.

Sometimes, he's just gotta think and live like beomgyu. Maybe, it was time for him to act without thinking for once. 

___

Beomgyu slowly lowered his head to the coffee table, resting his forehead on the edge and closed his eyes. Maybe if he was quiet enough, taehyun wouldn't notice him slacking off and trying to go to sleep. 

About an hour after arriving, they were both sprawled onto taehyun's living room floor, sitting cross-legged in front of the coffee table with their laptops propped up on it side by side and their backs resting against the bottom of the couch. Papers were literally everywhere, and beomgyu only had like, a few sips of his coffee left from earlier. He almost whimpered at the thought that he's gonna have to get another pretty soon. 

Of course, nothing escapes the eyes of taehyun. Not because he was super observant like a hawk (he usually was), but because it's beomgyu and his eyes are always on beomgyu no matter what they are doing. 

He silently and carefully leaned closer to beomgyu, glancing at his open documents on his laptop where he was typing up his portion of the paper. He quickly scanned it, and blinked in surprise. 

Damn. 

This was good. Like really good. 

Taehyun smiled, a tiny sliver of pride forming in his chest at how hard beomgyu worked on this. He knows the older boy hates school work and studying with a passion, and here he was trying really hard just because taehyun always thrives for a perfect score. 

It means a lot to taehyun, it really truly does. 

God, beomgyu is literally amazing in every way possible. 

He licked his lips and quickly backed away when beomgyu started to sit back up from his impromptu nap. 

"Don't think I didn't notice you dozing off there," taehyun chuckled, covering up his earlier emotions. 

Beomgyu yawned, not worried in the least. "Duh, this shit is boring as all hell. And I'm almost out of coffee," he complained. He reached forward to grab his almost empty coffee cup, needing a caffeine fix asap. 

Taehyun was silent for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest for what he was about to do. 

It will be like ripping off a band-aid. He needs to stop overthinking things and just go for it. 

So he did.

"Hey beomgyu?"

"Hmm?" Beomgyu hummed as he brought his caramel macchiato up to his lips to take a final sip of the frothy hot drink. 

"What would you do if I told you I liked you?" Taehyun asked bluntly. 

Beomgyu almost dropped his cup of remaining hot coffee, staring at taehyun with wide eyes and parted lips. He watched helplessly as taehyun's gaze flicked down to his lips, and he stayed motionless as taehyun leaned in and moved closer. 

There was a glint of mischievousness in taehyun's eyes, something beomgyu wasn't used to, and it was making him excited. Taehyun tilted his head slightly when he was only a few centimeters away, and beomgyu is pretty sure he stopped breathing altogether by now. 

He still didn't answer taehyun's question, his words lost in his mind somewhere. 

"You've got something on your lip, hyung," taehyun murmured, closing the distance and swiping his tongue across beomgyu's top lip, licking the froth of coffee that stayed there from beomgyu's earlier stumble. But he didn't stop there. He gently repositioned his lips against beomgyu's and softly pressed them there, waiting for beomgyu to either make the next move or shove him off. 

Beomgyu continued to sit as still as a statue, and if someone didn't make a move in the next couple of seconds, this whole situation will turn awkward very fast. So taehyun leaned in even closer and pressed his lips more firmly against beomgyu's, tilting his head farther to the point his nose was brushing against beomgyu's cheek. 

Beomgyu's heart finally kickstarted back up, and he released a shaky breath against taehyun's lips, kissing him back softly. 

Taehyun was pleased with the turn of events, and he was about to demand more from the other boy. He's been starved of beomgyu's affection for months (from his own stupidity, but we won't mention that), so now that he's here he might as well give in to everything he's ever wanted. 

However, beomgyu is beomgyu. We all know that Taehyun would have never started to like him if he was normal and predictable. 

Beomgyu leaned away from taehyun abruptly and quickly, disconnecting their kiss. He licked his own lips, tasting the faint remainder of his own coffee and a little bit of taehyun. He scooted away from taehyun, grabbing his phone from the coffee table in front of him, and then he was on his feet in a flash and dashing to the bathroom. 

Within seconds, beomgyu ended their kiss and ran away, making taehyun blink at the abrupt slam of the bathroom door. 

What…..even….

Taehyun was so confused. His heart was pounding wildly and he knows his face is flushed. He decided to take this moment to get his emotions back in order. 

___

Beomgyu tapped his phone with frantic and shaky fingers, cursing a few times when he clicked on the wrong buttons. 

He started hyperventilating as he waited for the phone to dial. 

_"Hey gyu! How's it going? Did you get your paper finished-"_ soobin started to say on the other line, but he was immediately cut off from speaking. 

It is really hard to describe, but what came out of beomgyu's mouth was a series of strange sounds mixed with barely audible words.

"SOOBIN, i- skrhrkfhd and taehyun he- alsjworungo, but then- lamchluy, and now i- eeeepppshhhh, ya know?" He ended, panting like he just ran a marathon. His face was beet red and he ran his fingers through his hair about a thousand times by now, a nervous tick of his.

While beomgyu was having his meltdown, soobin put him on speaker so that yeonjun and hyuka could hear as well. They were all still together from earlier, and yeonjun and soobin had amused expressions on their faces while beomgyu was 'talking'. 

It was silent for a few moments while beomgyu calmed down. 

" _What the fuck did he just say? All I got out of that was a bunch of dying whale noises,"_ hyuka said. 

" _So let me recap,"_ yeonjun chuckled. _"Basically taehyun implied he liked you, then he kissed you, you panicked, and now we are here on the phone as you hide in the bathroom. Did I miss anything?"_ Yeonjun asked. 

Beomgyu made a grunting noise.

Soobin also added in, _"and you are completely in shock because you thought you would be the one to confess first."_

Hyuka looked at the two older boys with a stunned expression. _"How the hell did you guys get all of that from his inaudible racoon chittering?!"_

Soobin laughed. _"We've known beomgyu for a long time now."_ Yeonjun nodded. 

Hyuka sighed, shaking his head with a smile. _"Well, don't leave him hanging!"_

Beomgyu stopped his dramatics, gasping in horror at how he just left taehyun sitting there. 

"Oh my god, oh shit," he cursed. "What if taehyun ran away, thinking I rejected him, and then it becomes a huge misunderstanding and now I'm gonna have to go on my knees begging him to take me back and-" 

Hyuka snorted, cutting him off. _"This isn't some kdrama. Taehyun isn't like that at all. He probably went back to doing his homework while waiting for you because he's a nerd and he doesn't like to waste his time."_

Beomgyu blinked, looking at his phone for a second. "Eye- yeah you're probably right. Oh crap, ok. I gotta get myself together." 

_"Go for it, gyu!"_ Yeonjun shouted. 

_"We'll be here waiting for the good news,"_ soobin laughed. 

_"Wait, what's he gonna do?"_ Hyuka asked them in the background. He was taehyun's best friend after all. Even though he's been wanting the two of them to get together for like, months, he still has taehyun's best interest at heart. 

Beomgyu grinned a cheeky grin, even though hyuka couldn't see him. "Taehyun attacked first, so now it's time for me to retaliate and counterattack." 

_"Wha-"_ but beomgyu cut him off and ended the call. 

He pressed both his hands against his cheeks and then turned and marched out of the bathroom. 

___

Hyuka was right. 

Taehyun calmly went back to typing his portion of the paper while he waited for beomgyu to return. It was his way of coping with the fact that beomgyu may or may not have rejected him (he honestly has no idea what the hell just happened). 

He refused to look up from his laptop when he heard the bathroom door open and soft but determined thuds come from the hallway and into the living room. He saw beomgyu approach him out of the corner of his eye, but he still did not acknowledge his presence (he was petty like that, and slightly embarrassed about how bold he was being earlier, and maybe a tiny bit scared beomgyu hated him now, but of course he would never show this). 

However, we already established that beomgyu was...well, beomgyu, and so taehyun didn't even get a chance to wallow in his own anger before beomgyu was bending down, reaching out, gripping the front of taehyuns shirt, and kissing him firmly on the lips like he's wanted to do since literally the first week of knowing him. Taehyun was totally surprised, unsure of what was happening. 

Without removing his lips, beomgyu crouched on the ground in front of taehyun, leaning into him and forcing him to press back against the couch. Beomgyu deepened the kiss, tilting his head and running his hand through taehyun's hair. Taehyun released a breath, reaching up to cling on to something, his fingers wrapping around beomgyu's wrist that was still gripping his shirt. He kissed beomgyu back immediately, trying to match his feverish pace. Beomgyu was desperately kissing him deeply, so deep so that taehyun would forget who's air he was breathing. 

Finally, beomgyu broke the kiss once more, ending it with a scrape of his teeth to taehyun's bottom lip and a harsh tug and suck before letting it go. It wasn't gentle at all.

They both gasped in lungfuls of air, trying to calm down. Beomgyu leaned away a little bit, staring at taehyun and cupping the side of his face, his fingers still digging into the hair at his nape. Taehyun stared back, unable to look away. He doesn't know how to get his heart to stop racing and his stomach to stop fluttering from the way beomgyu was looking at him in this moment. 

Taehyun licked his lips, both of them swollen from how rough beomgyu was (not that he minded), and winced slightly at the sting to his bottom lip he was now starting to feel.

The action didn't escape beomgyu's sight, and he gently reached down to touch taehyun's reddened bottom lip. "Sorry," he said apologetically, his daegu accent slipping out and driving taehyun mad to the point of being feral. He really does have a weak spot for beomgyu's husky deeper voice and it makes him shiver in excitement whenever he uses it unknowingly. "I'm a lip biter and got carried away," he finished. 

Oh god. Beomgyu better not say stuff like that unless he wants to be jumped. 

"I don't mind," taehyun said, his gaze intense. His face may be blank, but his eyes say it all. 

Beomgyu closed his eyes for a brief second and then fell forward into taehyun's shoulder, his hands wrapping around taehyun's waist automatically like they belonged there as he was having a mini meltdown. "Please don't do that. Please don't look at me like that. My heart can't handle it, you know how emotional I can get," he complained. 

Taehyun chuckled, patting beomgyu's back patronizingly. 

"I guess this is a good time to ask you, beomgyu, will you be my-" 

"No!!" Beomgyu yelled, shooting up from his position against taehyun and slapping a hand to taehyun's mouth to get him to stop talking. "Don't say it!" 

Taehyun's eyes flashed briefly with hurt, but he was used to never knowing what goes on inside beomgyu's head by now. He patiently waited for beomgyu to calm down and explain what he was thinking. 

Beomgyu looked into taehyun's eyes, leaning super close to his face again, his hand still on taehyun's mouth. 

He grinned a wide grin, bumping his nose cutely to taehyun's. All taehyun could do is stare at how breathtaking beomgyu looked, with his eyes glinting in excitement, his cheeks slightly flushed, his black hair a little messy as always, and his lips still swollen from their kiss.

"You managed to kiss me first, and now you want to be the first one to drop the important question?? You can call me petty, but I'm not letting you have the satisfaction." He quickly moved his hand away to peck taehyun on the lips before sucking in a breath.

"Kang Taehyun, I have liked you for a long time now. Will you go out with me?" He held his breath as he waited for taehyun to answer. 

Taehyun just stared at him, beomgyu could tell his mind was racing a mile a minute. Then he broke out into a huge smile and rolled his eyes. 

"You're unbelievable. Honestly, you drive me crazy. And I love you for it." 

Beomgyu felt like his heart just stopped. He was so happy he didn't know what to do. 

Turns out he didn't have to do anything, because just then taehyun launched himself at beomgyu, intentionally knocking him down to the ground and on his back. 

"Oof, what was that for? If you didn't want to go out with me, all you had to do was say- mmph," beomgyu started to complain, taehyun's lips immediately shutting him up as he laid on top of him and kissed him once again. 

Beomgyu made a muffled breathy noise as taehyun dropped his full weight onto him, but then he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around taehyun's waist to pull him closer. Taehyun made a little happy sound as he got comfortable. Despite almost every single inch of his body pressed tight to beomgyu's, if he could he would ask beomgyu to pull him even closer. 

The kiss went from sweet to heated once again really fast. Taehyun dug his fingers into beomgyu's soft dark hair and gripped tight, hanging on as he kissed him like he was starved. Their mouths moved together, and soon soft lips turned into passionate tongues. He could feel every touch, taste, tremble, and it was addicting. He needed more.

Taehyun kissed him with everything he had, because for once in his life, words could no longer accurately express his feelings for beomgyu. And he found that his new favorite kind of silence was when both their mouths meet repeatedly. Maybe this could be his new way of shutting beomgyu up when he talks too much (he finds he likes this idea more and more). 

They parted reluctantly for air, beomgyu's hot breath making taehyun shiver. Beomgyu brought a hand up to grip taehyun's chin and keep his head still while he kissed all along his jaw and neck. You will find no complaints from taehyun as he tried to catch his breath, and failing once beomgyu's lips and tongue explored all over. 

"I love this spot," beomgyu whispered hoarsely against taehyun's skin a few seconds later. Taehyun's mind was completely hazy with how good beomgyu was making him feel, but he still somehow managed to angle his neck so that beomgyu could get better access, his silent demand for more. Beomgyu grinned, scraping his teeth against the spot and sucking hard, then he soothed it over with his tongue, only to travel a little farther up to do the same to a spot near his ear. Taehyun released a soft moan at that, and beomgyu's heart quickened at the sound. "I take that back. _This_ spot is now my favorite if I get to hear your pretty sounds more often," beomgyu murmured against taehyun. 

"Whatever, now get back here and kiss me until I'm breathless again," taehyun said, hovering his lips back over beomgyus. But beomgyu started talking once more, which made taehyun impatient. 

"I would've asked you if you were serious, then probably cried like a baby, and then confess my undying love for you, or something like that," beomgyu said, looking taehyun straight in the eyes. 

Taehyun leaned away a little so that he could see beomgyu's face better. Then he adjusted himself slightly better on beomgyu, placing his hands on either side of beomgyu's head and lifting up a bit to help keep some of his weight off of him. He knows he isn't that light, and even though beomgyu doesn't seem to mind his full weight on top of him, he still feels a bit bad for crushing him all this time.

"What?" Taehyun asked, looking at beomgyu with confusion. What was he babbling about now? 

"To answer your question from earlier. If you told me you liked me, I would've asked you if you were serious because there's no way in hell I would be so lucky to have someone so amazing like me back. Then I probably would have broken down crying like a baby from happiness and shock because I'm an emotional wreck when it comes to you, and then I would have gathered up myself with what little dignity I had left and confessed my undying love for you. _Then_ I would've asked you to be my boyfriend." Beomgyu smiled up at taehyun cheekily, his face still a bit flushed. 

Taehyun's heart clenched at the admission, and he studied beomgyu's features in shock. 

"Why?" Taehyun asked, completely baffled at beomgyus admission. 

Beomgyu furrowed his brows. "Why what?" 

"Why do you like me so much? I just don't get it," taehyun clarified. Nobody has ever looked at taehyun the way beomgyu does. He doesn't want anybody else but beomgyu to look at him like that anyways. 

Beomgyu rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. Then he gripped taehyuns waist again, and lifted them both up into a sitting position with surprising strength, maneuvering taehyun so that he was sitting in his lap comfortably. Taehyun squinted his eyes in suspicion at beomgyu as he rested his hands on beomgyu's shoulders to keep himself steady. He always knew the little demon was way stronger than he let on. 

"Taehyun, for being so smart, you're an idiot. Honestly, how can you not see how amazing you are? In my eyes you are perfect." 

Oh, well now taehyun just fell in love a little more with beomgyu. He buried his face into the crook of beomgyu's neck in embarrassment, trying to make himself smaller. 

"You too," he mumbled against beomgyu's skin, kissing it lightly and making beomgyu's breath catch. "You are amazing, and perfect, and beautiful, and so much more too." 

Beomgyu grinned, his face going smug at all of the compliments he was getting from taehyun. 

"But also annoying, and crazy, and the hell-child of the devil himself and-" 

Beomgyu's smile dropped and he looked down at taehyun with a glare. "That's it, you asked for it-" he said huskily, switching back into his accent. 

Taehyun giggled as he was kissed roughly again. 

***

"So did you guys end up finishing your term paper?" Hyuka asked, unamused with the news that beomgyu and taehyun were now finally together. 

He was happy for them, really he was, but it was hard to express that joy when they were still just as annoying as they usually are. 

"Nope! After our touching moment, we pretty much made out and rolled around on all of our papers and-" taehyun slapped a hand over beomgyu's mouth to shut him up, and then put him into a head lock. 

"This is why I took judo, for this exact moment right here," he snarled out, his upper lip curling. 

Beomgyu giggled, holding onto taehyun's arm. "So are we fighting or flirting right now?"

Taehyun paused, looking down at beomgyu. "My arm is literally around your throat in a choke hold." 

Beomgyu looked up at taehyun with a sly smile. "That doesn't answer my question." 

"Ok ew," soobin said, going back to his book he was reading. He pouted as yeonjun tried to steal some more of his chips when he thought he wasn't paying attention, and slapped his hand out of the way without remorse. 

Taehyun let go of beomgyu, and helped straighten his clothes and hoodie. Then he got down to business once more. 

"We are meeting back up to finish the paper. No excuses, and no running off." He got even closer to beomgyu's face with a serious expression. "And if you try to run, Choi Beomgyu, I _will_ find you." 

Beomgyu tsked in annoyance, stomping his feet on the ground like a child. "Fine," he sighed, making it look like he was giving in. He side glanced taehyun, and then took his chance.

He was up and out of his chair in an instant, getting ready to run. He was fast, so he knows he's got about a solid 5 second lead before taehyun could react and come after him. 

That's all he needs.

But taehyun saw this coming from a mile away. He knows beomgyu so well, that his hand was already reaching over and gripping the back of beomgyu's hoodie the moment the older boy was on his feet. With his strength, he dragged beomgyu back over and wrestled him into his chair.

"You need to do a lot better than that, hyung. You're losing it with your old age," taehyun snickered. 

Beomgyu stopped thrashing and gasped at taehyun. "You are literally a year younger than me!" 

"And it clearly shows," taehyun snarked back. 

Beomgyu huffed, grabbing taehyun's phone that was on the table in front of them. 

“Thats it. Im going to end it right here, right now. Hyuka, it was nice knowing you. Yeonjun, you cant have my meal swipes. Soobin, i know it will be hard for you, but really, if you put your mind to it you CAN add and subtract in math class-”

Beomgyu closed his eyes, raised taehyun's phone in front of him and turned it horizontally towards his chest, as if he was going to stab his heart. 

“You do realize that my phone is a blunt and rounded object, which would make it physically impossible for you to end your life by trying to stab yourself with it-” 

Beomgyu snapped his eyes open, taking the phone and whacking taehyun in the shoulder with it instead. 

“Ow! What the fuck is wrong with you?” taehyun glared at beomgyu, rubbing his shoulder and trying to dodge beomgyu’s onslaught with his phone. 

“Cant you let me end my suffering without a single critique you einstein reincarnation, god damn let a man have his last moments in peace-” beomgyu ranted, stabbing taehyun in the side, the arm, the shoulder repeatedly with his phone. (not harshly of course)

Taehyun giggled slightly from the ticklish feeling of his phone being jammed into his rib cage. 

“Is beomgyu...using his phone as a weapon?” hyuka asked. 

“It really hurts more than you think,” soobin pouted, causing yeonjun to throw an arm over his boyfriend's shoulder and coo at him. Soobin pettily brushed yeonjun off of him, sniffing and turning his head in the other direction. He was still mad about the chips. 

***

Two weeks later:

Taehyun sucked in a nervous breath, glancing at the clock. It was almost time for his next class. 

Today he had a huge presentation for his computer class, one of the many final projects he had to complete for the end of term. Luckily, he and beomgyu finished their paper for professor Lee Minho about a week ago, and so taehyun was granted the relief of not having to worry about that anymore. 

He just wanted to get this presentation over and done with. Well, what he actually wanted was to hide behind beomgyu and not deal with any of this, but that was just wishful thinking. He brought his hand up to his neck, scratching at it in his nervous tick.

Just then, he was dragged out of his thoughts by someone gently tugging his hand away from his neck. He glanced at the newcomer, and sighed with relief. 

Taehyun smiled to himself, chuckling and remembering that beomgyu has an uncanny knack for showing up every time he thought about him. 

"You will do fine, taehyunnie!" Beomgyu said with a smile. "Just be one of the first to present, that way you will get it over with and not have to stress the rest of the class time. And if you mess up, it will be fine since everybody will forget about it as more people present after you. Plus you can zone out and pretend to listen to everyone else's presentations. At least, thats what I do during these boring final weeks of the semester." 

Taehyun almost scoffed, rolling his eyes at beomgyus weird way of thinking. He wasn't the type to slack off and find the final weeks of the term to be boring. He cared too much about his grades to do that. But oddly enough, beomgyu's advice gave him comfort. It was actually helpful…

He snapped back out of his thoughts when beomgyu got closer, gasping in surprise.

"Oh no! Taehyun, your shirt!" Beomgyu said, reaching over to fumble with his collar.

Taehyun looked down at his button up dress shirt and tie he was wearing for the presentation, totally confused. "What's wrong with it? Is my tie crooked?" 

Beomgyu reached over, fussing with the top button. Taehyun tried to glance down to see what was wrong with it, and then after a few seconds his face morphed into one of a deadpan expression. 

"Beomgyu, why are you unbuttoning by buttons?" 

Beomgyu had a face of total concentration, undoing the second button and loosening his tie. "I thought you might have been too hot," he said seriously.

"Beomgyu, it's the end of autumn," taehyun said with a monotone voice.

"Uhm your middle button was coming off, so I have to unbutton all of them to get to it?" Beomgyu tried again, the fourth button undone. 

"Up, beomgyu. Button my shirt back up," taehyun sighed, trying to hide a smile. 

Beomgyu paused, pouting at taehyun. "No, I don't want to. I hate you in this shirt."

Ok, taehyun would be lying if he said that didn't sting a little bit. But before he could get properly upset, beomgyu continued. 

"You look way too gorgeous in it, you fill out the shirt impeccably, and now everyone is going to be looking at you when you are supposed to be all mine." 

Oh...well shit. Now taehyun is trying to fight a blush on his face. How is beomgyu able to make him switch moods like that with just a sentence? 

Hiding his obvious joy at the compliment, taehyun gently pushed beomgyu's hands away, fixing his shirt back up for the presentation. "Tell you what. I'll let you take this shirt off of me all you want later. Is that okay with you?" 

Taehyun tried not to smirk as he watched beomgyu internally malfunction. Then he tightened his tie and tried to step away from beomgyu and back out into the main hallways. It was almost time for his class to start.

Beomgyu reached out quickly and gripped taehyun's waist before he could go, trying to get his heart under control. Oh god, that was totally hot. He was so far gone for taehyun. 

"Tell you what. How about we just skip your presentation and go right back to your place right now? That's sounds nice, right?" He pleaded, batting his eyelashes cutely. 

Taehyun didn't resist when he was tugged into beomgyu's body, immediately wrapping his arms around his neck. 

"This is half my grade hyung," taehyun made a point, the corners of his lips turning up at beomgyu's pout. 

"There's always next time, amiright?" Beomgyu tried again. 

Taehyun shook his head, leaning over and kissing beomgyu softly and quickly on the lips. They might be hidden from the oncoming traffic of students, but they were still somewhat out in the open. 

"You're unbelievable," taehyun sighed fondly as he leaned away a few inches. 

Beomgyu gave him a cheeky smile, leaning forward again to close that gap, kissing taehyun again, this time harder and leaving him breathless. Then he ended the kiss with a gentle bite to taehyun's bottom lip, making taehyun unconsciously chase after beomgyu's lips and frowning when he wasn't quick enough. 

"Yeah, but you love me anyways," beomgyu winked, tightening his hold on taehyun's waist before reluctantly letting him go so taehyun could make it for his class on time. 

He waited expectantly for taehyun to confirm this statement. 

However, taehyun still clung to beomgyu's shoulders, not wanting to step away just yet. He stepped up a little bit and gave beomgyu one last kiss on the lips, showing through his actions that yeah, he does love beomgyu no matter what. Beomgyu clearly got the message, humming in content when he kissed taehyun back, their lips brushing softly once more. Then they parted.

Beomgyu pouted childishly when taehyun was still silent, wanting taehyun to say it in words. He was selfish like that. 

"You do love me anyways, _right_?" He repeated, continuing to urge taehyun to say it. 

Taehyun finally stepped away, a sly smirk forming on his lips. Before he turned to leave, he gave beomgyu a playful glance, making beomgyu curious as to what he was thinking. 

Taehyun tried to look nonchalant and shrugged his shoulders. He knows his next words will drive beomgyu crazy, to the point beomgyu might even kiss him harshly in retaliation later (he was hoping he would). 

"That's debatable." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Blue Orangeade" by txt


	4. Bonus: Commentary

Hello!

I just want to thank you all for making it to the end with this fic. 

As I do with all of my fics, I am writing a commentary on my thought process as I wrote this. This was purely self indulgent. I had no idea what I was writing, and I didn't bother to go back and really edit it and see if it makes sense. This is not to be taken seriously, so Im not gonna apologize if it's very shitty lmaooo 

I realize that I suck at writing smaller fics under 10k, and so I wanted to practice and make fun drabbles. As you can see….I still need a lot of work since I got a bit carried away with this. 

What started this was the fun idea I had of "one hour oneshots" where I would take a prompt I made up and just write whatever comes to mind for exactly one hour. Then if it was decent enough, I would finish it and post it. This was the very first thing I wrote.

Plus, I wanted to delve into a new fandom with new ships! I'm multifandom, as most of my readers already know. I'm notorious for adding in tons of cameos to all of my skz fics. But I wanted to venture away from skz for a small while, and experiment with other genres and characters. 

This is technically the first txt fic that I have written on this account so I thought it was good practice to prepare me for a more major fic I have in the works for txt (some of you already know it as part 2 of utcw, 'at the world's end').

Now moving on to the actual fic. 

There is not a lot to say about this since I put absolutely zero effort into writing it. I will say though, that it was inspired by my hatred of debate class. I'm not sure if any of you have taken a class where debate was involved, but I had to for a whole semester, and it literally went almost exactly how I wrote it for taehyun and beomgyu. Except my teacher wasn't cool (or hot) like Lee Minho from skz, and the topics were never fun. Also, there was this one annoying kid on the other team that I despised with a passion. And before you guys even say it, no it was not an au or fanfic kind of scenario. I never interacted with this kid, but everyone couldn't stand him since he was so obnoxious. He made the class very annoying for me and others. (John, if you're reading this, then fuck you) 

Lol jk (I'm not kidding) 

Next we will talk about the cliches that happened in this fic. The first one is the printer scene. That actually happened one day to this girl in the printer room. We had secret printer rooms all over the building, and when she walked in, she broke it making both of us late for class (we just snuck into the back tho, so we were good). Of course I made the scene more comical for taegyu. Next was the classic elevator scene. That elevator actually exists on my college campus, and I risked my life every Tuesday and Thursday when I had to ride it. There was no way I was gonna drag my lazy ass up those 5 flights of stairs. The elevator really did break down one day, but not to me. It was 2 girls in my class and they were so pissed. Also, the maintenance guy was real. And he was a huge asshole I heard (but never met him). 

The coffee shop is real as well. Whenever I felt like crap, I would indulge myself with a cup of coffee. My friend and I would stand in the long line in the morning to get our drinks, or sometimes I would pick one up for her on my way home since we were roommates (omg they were roommates). 

I would also like to personally thank all of my friends for their help with the debate quotes. They contributed to about half of those arguments and different viewpoints and I love them for it (you guys know who you are). 

Uhh well, I think that's all I have to say?? I love txt, and I love skz (also those Astro cameos lol) 

Until next time!! 

My DMs are always open, I always follow back, and I'm always up! 

@stayinmylane10

curiouscat.me/stayinmylane10 


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